Of Tuna and Skylarks Mafia Version
by Iwataki
Summary: When an unknown family targets Tsuna Hibari takes initiative and swears to protect this small herbivore if only to protect Namimori itself. As time passes Hibari realizes he wants to protect Tsuna for more than one reason. Especially with the enemy continuing to hide in the shadows waiting to strike again. But tragedy ensues as war erupts in the mafia world.
1. Attack!

Hi, everyone! This is my first fic, and adding to that, my first 1827 fic, too. Might be hints of 5927 if you squint, or probably just stare.

Anyways, hope you guys like it! Please read and review! ... And unless you don't like this kind of story (yaoi) then please don't read and please don't leave a nasty review.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR, Amano-sama does.

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Stretching his legs out under his desk, and arms up high up above his head Tsuna let out a huge yawn that could rival that of a lion's, or maybe even something other of that caliber. After hearing a satisfactory crack coming from his back, Tsuna let out a sigh and slumped against his seat.

Class had just ended a minute or so ago and Tsuna was just ready to book on out of there and get home, but of course he was almost instantly approached by Yamamoto and Gokudera. It wasn't that Tsuna didn't enjoy their company, it's just that they could be a little overbearing...especially Gokudera.

"Yo, Tsuna," Yamamoto greeted, grinning his trademark grin.

"Tenth!" Gokudera bounded over to his side and Tsuna swore he could see a ears and a tail on his silver-haired friend. "Are you ready to head home?"

"Um, yeah. I just need to finish packing up my stuff and then we can head out," instead of picking his things up and placing them in his book-bag somewhat neatly like he normally would he just swept his arm across his desk so that everything fell into his open book-bag. Then, grabbing the strap he swung his bag over his shoulder and stood up.

"All right, let's head out guys," he said.

"Well, actually, I've got baseball practice, so It'll just be you two again," Yamamoto explained, smiling apologetically.

"What's the big deal, Baseball-Idiot!" Gokudera growled, "You've been bailing on the Tenth too much lately!"

"Well, we've got playoffs coming up so I can't afford to miss any practice," Yamamoto explained, seemingly unaffected by Gokudera's fury. Gokudera inflated with anger and opened his mouth to argue back, but Tsuna interrupted him before they could get too heated in the argument.

"Hey, it's all right, Gokudera-kun! If Yamamoto needs to do stuff then he can do it. It's not like we never see him, anyways." One look at Tsuna's pleading face, and Gokudera's rage instantly dissipated.

"If the Tenth says so, then," Gokudera shot a glare at Yamamoto, "don't make this a habit though, Baseball-Idiot!"

"All right, then," Yamamoto laughed. Tsuna saw Gokudera's rage beginning to spike again so he decided they'd better leave before anything happened.

"Gokudera-kun! Let's head out already, I'm sure Yamamoto has to head to practice!" Tsuna began walking towards the door and sure enough Gokudera followed behind him like a loyal puppy.

"All right, Tenth," Gokudera acquiesced.

"See you tomorrow, Yamamoto," Tsuna called behind him.

"See ya," Yamamoto waved good-bye at them.

"Good riddance," Gokudera muttered under his breath, but sure enough Tsuna heard him and was somewhat glad he'd gotten him farther away before anything too weird happened.

Just as Tsuna was swinging the door open, he was surprised to feel someone opening it from the other side as well and shrieked in shock when it opened to reveal a seething Hibari.

"H-Hibari-san!" Tsuna fell back from the shock, but luckily for him Gokudera managed to catch him before he could hit the floor.

"Bastard!" Gokudera snarled, "Watch where you're going!" Hibari just ignored him, and after glancing over Tsuna passively he quickly scanned the room, eyes narrowing when he just saw it was the three and he.

"Hn...Not here..." And with that he immediately turned around and disappeared into the hallways.

"Jeez, what's up with that crazy battle maniac," Gokudera muttered, then turned his attention to Tsuna," Tenth! Are you all right? He didn't hurt you did he?"

"I'm fine, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna answered as he was set upright. "I wonder what that was about though..."

"Who knows," Gokudera shrugged. Yamamoto laughed, and the two were suddenly reminded that their friend was still there.

"Maybe he was looking for Hibird? Anyhow, see you guys. I'm gonna be late for practice." Yamamoto walked over to the opened door and grinned once more before exiting.

Gokudera just glared after him before turning to Tsuna with a smile plastered on his face. "Tenth! Let's hurry to your house, you're mom's making Mizutaki^ isn't she?"

"Oh, yeah!" Tsuna ran out of the door with Gokudera following closely behind. "We'd better hurry before it gets all eaten up by Reborn and the others."

The whole way they ran towards Tsuna's home, he couldn't help but constantly think about what Hibari was up to back at the school. He'd seemed especially peeved about something, and Tsuna was sure that couldn't have been caused by losing track of Hibird. Maybe someone got away from him? Anyways, he just hoped that whatever it was, it wouldn't end up being too bad.

Tsuna's luck was outlived, however, when his Hyper Intuition immediately began ringing alarm bells in the back of his mind.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna stopped running and cried out a warning to his friend, but before Gokudera could realize what was going on there was a sudden explosion just to the right of him. "Gokudera-kun!"

What just happened! Tsuna began batting away at the smoke and dust and coughed when he breathed it in. "Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna needed to find him and make sure he was all right.

"Tenth!" Gokudera's worried cry rang out from within the dust cloud. It sounded far away, but it was definitely there. Tsuna began moving towards where he assumed Gokudera's voice was coming from, but before he could take a step, there was another explosion just in front of him. He heard Gokudera cry out in pain before he felt the sudden burst of energy throw him backwards and into a cement wall.

Groaning, and coughing up some blood, Tsuna slid down the wall and fell down so that he lay sprawled against the wall. Tsuna's eyes were stinging from the dirt and dust that had flown in there, and his ears were ringing from the after-effects of the explosion. Having it set off so close to him wasn't good, and as Tsuna slowly recovered he felt a horrible burning sensation coming from his right leg.

When he bent forward to look, he felt a sudden wave of nausea to see a syringe embedded right in the side of his calf. And it was empty. Now that he was starting to come to his senses, and the sudden burst of adrenaline was wearing off, the pain from his wound was starting to take effect, too.

He let out a gasp of pain and brought his leg close to his chest so he could examine the wound. There was a steady flow of blood oozing out from around the edges of the syringe where it was embedded in his calf. Tsuna grabbed the syringe by the hilt but left it in. Was was he supposed to do? Pull it out or leave it? Where had the thing come from anyways? It was really starting to hurt and his body was beginning to burn up, whether from shock or something else, he didn't know.

A loud shout brought Tsuna's attention back to the fight at hand. There were continuous sounds of fighting somewhere in the dust cloud, and a string of curses being shouted out by Gokudera, but Tsuna was too disoriented by the pain in his leg to tell exactly what he was saying.

Tsuna then opted for trying to find Gokudera and could barely make out two figures going at it in the dust cloud. There was a sudden burst of red flame which blew away the dust surrounding its owner to reveal Gokudera. The other figure still remained shrouded in the dust and easily dodged a dynamite thrown at him by the bomber.

"Bastard!" Gokudera snarled and pulled out some more dynamite from who knows where. He immediately hurled the dynamite towards the unknown figure, but this time the attack managed to connect and the figure was immediately engulfed in the explosion. The next thing Tsuna knew, Gokudera was at his side and pulling him up. Tsuna groaned in pain when the movement caused his wound to open up more. Blood oozed out at a more ready pace and dripped onto the ground leaving large puddles underneath them.

"Gokudera-kun, stop! My leg!" Tsuna howled and tried loosening Gokudera's hold on him, but Gokudera held on tightly and refused to budge, only pulling Tsuna closer.

"I'm sorry, Tenth, but, I need to get you out of here, that guy's not normal!" Gokudera pulled Tsuna up onto his back before he could ask exactly why he wasn't normal. "Hold on tight, Tenth!"

Tsuna immediately wrapped his arms around Gokudera's neck as he took of running down the street at a speed that was abnormal. Tsuna groaned as the pain in his calf intensified with each movement that occurred from swinging around.

"Just hold on a little longer, Tenth," Gokudera said, although his voice was a little strained. Tsuna was aware that they had entered an abandoned building and Gokudera immediately brought him into an area hidden behind a wall of boxes.

Gokudera set Tsuna down gently, being careful of his injured leg and knelt down in order to catch his breath. After a minute or so he then proceeded to take off his jacket and tore it up into long strips.

Tsuna, meanwhile had ended up propped up against some boxes, and he wasn't feeling so hot. Well, actually he was burning up, but every time he tried opening his eyes or moving even the slightest bit his head would begin pounding and his eyes would get all fuzzy no matter how hard he tried focusing.

So he was startled to feel pressure on his leg, then a tugging sensation followed almost immediately by a horrible burning that flared all across his leg which spread throughout the rest of his body. Tsuna cried out in agony and tried pushing away Gokudera's hands, but stopped when they were restrained firmly, but gently.

"I'm sorry, Tenth. It's going to hurt a bit, so please endure it." Tsuna felt something being wrapped around his leg and when he opened his eyes to look he saw that it was parts of Gokudera's jacket that he had ripped up. He heard Gokudera mutter something about how much his he was bleeding and something else Tsuna couldn't make out but it sounded urgent.

"Gokudera-kun...what's wrong?" Tsuna turned to look at his friend and became worried at the surprised and anxious look plastered on his friend's face.

"Ah, i-it's nothing, Tenth," Gokudera forced a smile and finished tying up the make-shift bandage around Tsuna's wound. Tsuna winced at the sudden jerk, but managed to focus enough so that he could give Gokudera a look that said, _Tell me what's wrong and don't even think about lying to me_.

Gokudera hesitated, but relented under Tsuna's gaze, and picked up the syringe that had previously been embedded in Tsuna's leg before glaring daggers at it. "That bastard, Tenth, I-I think...well, I don't know what it is, but he put something in this, and I guess it's in you now."

Tsuna huffed in response and fell back against the boxes, feeling too tired and just wanting to sleep. He felt like he was about to die...or at least pass out. His whole leg especially, felt like it was about to fall off. Whatever had been put into his system definitely was not making Tsuna any more comfortable.

"I have to get you to the hospital, Tenth," Gokudera decided and began pulling Tsuna up, but was stopped when there was a sudden explosion behind the wall of boxes, causing them to fall right on top of them. "Shit!" Not losing any time, Gokudera shoved Tsuna out of the way before the boxes landed, burying the silver-haired teen beneath the rubble.

Tsuna pushed himself up and stared in horror at the mass of boxes and debris which were currently covering his sacrificed friend. Mustering up as much strength as he could, Tsuna crawled over to the pile of debris and grabbed onto a piece of wood that was jutting out.

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna croaked and tugged on the piece but to no avail, "Gokudera-kun," he tugged harder when he didn't get any answer.

Tsuna groaned when a sudden dizzy spell came over him, but he managed to ignore it and continued trying to dig Gokudera out. He had to help him. Gokudera was probably hurt and bleeding under there and here was Tsuna who couldn't even pull out a stinking piece of wood.

Wait. Tsuna mentally punched himself. He'd forgotten all about his Hyper Dying Will pills. Tsuna reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle, fumbling with the lid a bit as he tried to push and twist it off.

He'd only managed to twist it slightly when a hand slid over his mouth and the other knocked the bottle out of his hand spilling the contents all across the ground. The hand then slid across his waist, pulling Tsuna closer to the owner.

"Greetings, young Vongola," a voice whispered besides his ear, "please excuse my rudeness, but we really must be going."

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So? What did you think? Should I continue?


	2. What The Tuna Dragged In

Wow! You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all of the wonderful reviews and alerts!

Special thanks to tuna, BLKROS300, mangopudding, Max Corvin, mischievious, YellowRed, Natsume1111, LadySuzy, and xxYunnaxx for reviewing. You all gave me great inspiration to continue writing this! I hope you all like this chapter as well!

I'm horrible at writing author notes, too. XP I forgot to mention that there might be a little bit of Allx27 in here. I can't resist! I'm also going off the manga, too. I don't know if they had Vongola Gears in the anime since they appeared in the Inheritance Ceremony Arc with Enma. So for those who watched the anime, I'm not making stuff up!

And OCs...I'm not sure what I want to do with them yet. Any ideas?

Disclaimer: Own KHR I don't. Rich, I would be, if I did.

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_He'd only managed to twist it slightly when a hand slid over his mouth and the other knocked the bottle out of his hand spilling the contents all across the ground. The hand then slid across his waist, pulling Tsuna closer to the owner._

_"Greetings, young Vongola," a voice whispered besides his ear, "please excuse my rudeness, but we really must be going."_

X X X

_Going?_ _Going where? _Well, wherever it was, Tsuna wasn't just going to go willingly. He grabbed at the hand covering his mouth and tried pulling it away, but found that he couldn't muster up the strength to put up a proper fight. When he turned his head he managed to catch a glimpse of his attacker and was startled at what he saw.

The man had the darkest hair that Tsuna had ever seen. It was the blackest black could get. The man's eyes were the exact same color, and where his pupils should have been there was nothing. Or, at least, they weren't visible. The sight of them alone sent chills down Tsuna's spine. There was nothing behind those eyes, and that scared him.

As if guessing what Tsuna was thinking, the man shifted uncomfortably and used his hand on Tsuna's mouth to turn Tsuna's head so that he was facing forward. The man's free hand then went to Tsuna's hand and grabbed onto his ring on his finger.

"I will be taking this, young Vongola," he stated and tugged the ring off and pocketed it. Tsuna heard a faint growl and screwed his eyes shut in frustration. First Gokudera then Natsu!

Tsuna then let out a surprised grunt when the dark-haired man pulled him up and began dragging him away. Tsuna felt his eyes widen in horror and surprise.

_No!_ With as much effort as he could put into it, Tsuna dug his heels into the ground while also digging his nails into the dark-haired man's arm around his waist and biting into the hand covering his mouth.

"Gah!"

As planned, the man quickly removed both of his hands releasing Tsuna. Not missing a beat Tsuna kicked behind him, just trying to stall for some time. But he ended up effectively hitting the man in between his legs, eliciting a shrill scream. The man fell onto his knees while his hands were busy trying to soothe a certain area.

Tsuna smiled in slight triumph but wasted no time and immediately began crawling away on his hands and knees. He needed to get into Hyper Dying Will Mode before he could save Gokudera and retrieve Natus, but before that he needed to find a pill.

He let out a sharp hiss when a sharp pain shot through his leg, but he ignored it and continued crawling. He couldn't let himself get caught! Gokudera couldn't wait either! Tsuna felt a little burst of energy shoot through him at the thought. Gokudera was probably suffocating right now, and here was Tsuna trying to find a small pill somewhere in this warehouse or whatever this place was.

Tsuna felt his fingers brush against something smooth and round and upon examining it he almost cried out of relief. He'd found one! But before he could put it in his mouth the man let out a battle cry and tackled Tsuna to the ground. Tsuna gripped the pill tightly and held onto it as though it were a lifeline, as he and the man tumbled across the ground. Tsuna let out a grunt as he landed on his back and the man climbed on top of him, pinning him down.

"I will not allow you to swallow anything, young Vongola!" he snarled, once again covering Tsuna's mouth with his hand. Only this time, he dug his fingers into Tsuna's cheeks, causing Tsuna to screw his eyes shut in pain. Then the man began tugging at Tsuna's hand that was holding the pill. "Now release what you have in your hand, or I will have to resort to force!"

"Oh, Pietro, you're so dramatic." The man looked to the right in surprise, and when Tsuna followed his gaze he was greeted by the sight of a blonde woman dressed in a black suit. The same one the man, Pietro -Tsuna assumed that was his name- was wearing.

"Rita! What in the world you doing here? You are supposed to be waiting at the vehicle!" Pietro snarled. Rita sighed and rubbed at her temple.

"I _was_ waiting, but you were taking too long so I thought I'd come make sure you managed to catch the Vongola." Rita glanced at Tsuna, then sneered at Pietro and crossed her arms. "And from the looks of it, you're not doing a very good job, are you?" Pietro flushed out embarrassment and anger.

"Silence, Woman! Just come help me!" Pietro motioned with his chin towards Tsuna who began struggling when he saw that she was on his side.

With hurried footsteps she appeared above the two and bent down, grabbing onto Tsuna's arms. She yelped out of surprise when Tsuna managed to yank one arm out of her grip, but she quickly grabbed him again, holding on a bit tighter than before.

"Why does he have so much strength! Didn't you give him the drug?" She hissed.

"I did, but that Vongola blood of his must have burned it all off by now! I cannot help it if that is the case, Rita!"

"Ok! Jeesh! Calm, Pietro. I'll just do this for now so move out of the way." Pietro glared at her, but ended up sliding off of Tsuna so that Rita could take his place.

"W-what are y-you doing!" he screeched. Tsuna felt his face flush in embarrassment as she settled down on top of him, while still holding his arms down. Rita just blinked, and smirking trailed a finger along Tsuna's jawline.

"Oh, right. I forgot. You're a boy aren't you?" She crooned, tilting Tsuna's chin up with her finger. Tsuna gave her a disbelieving look, _How do you forget I'm a boy!_ "I can play with you later if you'd like, little Vongola. I wouldn't mind since you're not too bad looking either. Cutest mafia don I've seen in a while."

"W-what!" How did Tsuna always manage to end up in such weird and dangerous situations! _Somebody help!_

"Rita..." There was a warning edge to Pietro's voice as Tsuna's face flamed up some more.

Rita just laughed, "Don't worry, Pietro. I'm just teasing him. He's much too young anyways, and I'm not that indecent." Rita slid her hands up Tsuna's arms so that they encircled his wrists. "Anyways, here's where the real fun begins." She squeezed his wrists, her brows furrowing together as she did so.

A sudden burning sensation shot across Tsuna's wrists and traveled down his arms. He screwed his eyes shut from the pain as the burning continued to travel throughout his entire body. What was she doing to him!

"Do not kill the young Vongola, Rita," Pietro warned. "If you do..."

"Quiet, Pietro!" Rita snapped, "I know! I know what I'm doing, too, so don't distract me!" As she was saying this she flipped Tsuna over so that he was lying on his stomach. Rita then pressed his wrists together as though she was about to tie them. There was a sudden flaring across his arm which caused Tsuna to open his hands up out of reflex. They were clammy and the air felt cool against them.

Pietro made a sudden dive for the ground and snatched up something. Then he bent his arm back and tossed whatever it was far away, causing a small clattering sound to echo out across the building.

"What...was that, Pietro?" Rita questioned, pausing in what she was doing to Tsuna.

"Dying Will Pill. Young Vongola was holding it, and was quite stubborn in giving it up," Pietro explained. "I'm glad you were able to get him to release it."

"Oh...So is that why you were straddling my poor little guy earlier?" She sent Tsuna a sympathetic look, "Poor sweetie. It must be so scary being straddled by somebody so scary who's trying to hurt you."

_Just like you, you hypocrite!_ Tsuna mentally screamed. He screwed his eyes shut when he felt a finger trail down his back, leaving a string of heat in its wake. Pietro on the other hand just sighed and ignored her.

"I would rather you to have been finished already, Rita. We were supposed to be on the way to rendezvous with the helicopter by now."

"I _am_ finished," Rita grumbled and stood up, leaving Tsuna alone on the ground. Tsuna lay there in surprise. He could get away now! Tsuna shot up, but fell back against the ground when he found that his legs weren't moving. Then he tried moving his arms, but they too were somehow bound together by the wrists.

Tsuna felt panic building up inside of him. That lady hadn't used any ropes on him. So why was his body acting like it was tied up? What did she do to him?

"Careful, Sweetie," Rita warned, "if you move around so much you're going to get burned." Right as she said that a sudden flash of heat shot through Tsuna's body. He cried out in pain and thrashed around on the ground as the heat intensified.

And just as quickly as it came, the heat disappeared. Tsuna collapsed back onto the ground. He let out gasps of pain and curled in on himself to try to quell the painful burning surging throughout his body. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he recovered.

"Perfect as always, Rita," Pietro complimented. Rita smirked and flipped her red hair. She knelt down in front of Tsuna and used her finger to lift his chin again.

"Did you know, Sweetie, that flames could be used as ropes? Pull on them too much and they'll burn you. It's a little skill I learned along the way and it's never failed me." She let go of Tsuna, letting his head drop back to the ground.

Curious, Tsuna bent around to look at his ankles and was surprised to see storm flames forming a ring around them. He wouldn't be surprised if his arms, which were bound behind his back also had flames tying them together. But it wasn't good that they could use flames. If they weren't flame users then this would be so much easier.

"Pick up the little Vongola, Pietro and we'll head out," Rita ordered.

"I don't know why you ever do the heavy work," Pietro grumbled, but he bent down and hoisted Tsuna up, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Pietro began walking towards the entrance with Rita following behind.

"Ah! W-wait!" Tsuna cried.

"What is it, Sweetie?" Rita asked.

"Well, first off stop calling me 'Sweetie'! A-and I think that you should let me go and we can just call it a day. I-I mean, I'm sure you both are tired, and I've got homework, and-" Tsuna was abruptly cut off when Rita covered his mouth with her hand.

"Now why would we just let you go, after all of the effort we put into this, Sweetie? Don't you realize that you're far too valuable for your own good?"

"Rita..." Pietro growled warningly. Rita ignored him.

"Anyways, I can't say too much, but I promise that we'll treat you well if you behave so just be patient, all right? We're all about compromises." She pulled her hand away and Tsuna was shocked to see that she had placed some flames there as well. He tried opening his mouth to voice his opinions, but when the movement ignited the flames and caused them to burn his lips he just decided to keep his mouth shut.

"You bastards...let go of the Tenth..." Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise when he saw Gokudera standing a few feet away. There were splotches of blood all over his shirt, and there was a trail running down his face. But he was alive, and that was the only thing that mattered right now.

"Who's that, Pietro?" Rita frowned, noticing the hopeful look on Tsuna's face.

"Ah, that is young Vongola's storm guardian, Gokudera Hayato. It seems like the Vongola have all exceeded my expectations," he explained.

"Storm?" Rita glanced at Gokudera with interest and chuckled, "I'll take care of him, so just stick around a bit. It shouldn't take too long."

"Like hell it will, Bitch. I'll save the Tenth...and send the two of you straight to hell at the same time." Tsuna's brows furrowed together in concern. Even if Gokudera had enough strength to stand he was definitely not in a good condition to fight. He was swaying on his feet and it looked like he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"Oh? Will you now?" Rita took a few steps towards him and placed her hands on her hips, "I'll let you have the first move then, Stormy."

"With pleasure...Uri! Cambio Forma!" Gokudera was instantly equipped in his Vongola Gear, dynamite strapped all over his body. Not missing a beat, Gokudera immediately shot some dynamite towards Rita, who just stood there and took the attack. There was a shriek as a cloud of smoke billowed out and surrounded Rita.

"Rita, you fool! Do not mess around!" Pietro roared as the smoke dissipated, revealing Rita kneeling on the ground and clutching at her arm where a steady stream of blood was flowing out. She stood up and let out a wry chuckle.

"Stronger than he looks..." she muttered, then smirked. "But not strong enough." She was a blur as she shot towards Gokudera. Grabbing some roses covered in storm flames from out of her suit, Rita spread them out as though they were cards and tossed them towards Gokudera. Gokudera made to bend backwards in order to dodge them, but when the roses instead imbedded themselves in the ground around him forming a circle he stopped and stared at them in confusion.

"What horrible aim," Gokudera taunted, glaring up at her. "Besides, who in their right mind uses flowers as a weapon!"

"Those who are clever enough to realize the potential Mother Nature has to offer," Rita answered. She reached into her suit once more and pulled out another rose, only this time it was coated in blue flames. Rain flames. Tsuna's eyes widened in realization when he saw where this was going. His intuition was screaming out a warning in the recesses of his mind as well. Tsuna tried calling out a warning to Gokudera to run away, but his cries never reached him as the flames around his mouth immediately burned.

"Sayonara, Vongola Storm Guardian!" Rita cackled. She tossed the rain rose up into the air above Gokudera. Before Gokudera could even move, the flames from all of the roses connected, forming a cage around Gokudera. The flames then shot towards Gokudera from every angle, covering the bomber in a mix of rain and storm flames. The combination was devastating, while also draining at the same time. Gokudera cried out in agony and collapsed onto the ground, his energy slowly being sapped away.

Tsuna watched in horror as his best friend was being drained of his flames and began thrashing against Pietro's hold, calling out as best he could against the gag. Even though Tsuna's whole body became barraged by the flames binding him, he ignored the pain, determined to go help his friend. Pietro grunted when Tsuna placed a well-aimed kick to his stomach and dropped down onto a knee. Pietro retaliated and struggled to hold onto Tsuna, having to restrain him on his lap.

"Rita! Stop attacking the storm guardian and come assist me!" Pietro let out another grunt when Tsuna managed to headbutt him. Rita glanced back at the duo, and turning back towards her battle flicked her fingers. The attack of the flames immediately cut off, although the cage was still in place. Gokudera lay on the ground unmoving.

"Listen up, little Vongola!" Rita called back, "If you don't want me to kill your friend here then you need to come along willingly. That means no resisting. No complaints. If I even catch a whiff of you trying to fight back I'll continue the attack and leave it so that there's nothing left of him. I can control an attack like this from long distances, so if you think that he'll somehow manage to escape unharmed, then you're only deluding yourself. Do we have a deal?"

Tsuna immediately nodded, not wanting his friend to suffer anymore because of him. He stopped struggling and lay limp in Pietro's arms, wanting to show them that he wouldn't fight back. Panting, Pietro hoisted Tsuna back over his shoulder and stood up, wiping away some blood from his mouth. Satisfied, Rita let out a huff of breath and after brushing off some dirt walked back over to the duo.

"See, Sweetie. Didn't I say we were all about compromising?" Rita cooed, stroking Tsuna's spiky hair. Tsuna just screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to talk or even look at her. He just wanted this to be over with already. Rita looked at Pietro and nodded towards the entrance, "Let's go."

As they began moving, Tsuna opened his eyes to look back at Gokudera who was still unconscious. He closed his eyes and felt tears forming in the corner of his eyes. Would he be unable to see his mom anymore? Lambo? I-pin? Heck, even Bianchi and Reborn. Reborn. What would he do if he were here? _Probably bash my head in_.

Tsuna didn't realize that they were outside until he felt the sun's rays warming his already burned body. He opened his eyes and squinted as the sun was shining right in front of him. The transition from the dark warehouse and going into the sun was blinding.

He closed his eyes again. It was hopeless wasn't it? These horrible people were going to take him away, and there was nothing he could do about it. Not unless he wanted to risk Gokudera's life.

"Where did you park, Rita?" Pietro asked, shifting Tsuna on is shoulder as he was sliding off.

"Just a couple blocks down," Rita answered.

"We need to have your wound examined, Rita," Pietro stated. Rita just hummed in response.

"I'll be fi-" Suddenly there was a deafening explosion which rocked the ground. Both Rita and Pietro cried out in alarm as they lost their footing and fell to the ground. Pietro lost his hold on Tsuna, causing him to grunt in pain as he landed on his back on the ground. As the effects of the explosion settled down Rita and Pietro looked at each other before looking at where the explosion had come from. Rita let out a shocked gasp.

"That was where the car was!"

"Herbivores."

Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise. There was only one person that could be. He rolled onto his side and sure enough Hibari was standing in the middle of the street, a murderous look marring his features. Tsuna cringed as his killing intent radiated towards him. Rita and Pietro must have felt it too since they both cringed before standing up to face him.

"Those that disrupt the discipline of Namimori will be effectively punished and bitten to death," there was a flash of silver and Hibari was suddenly holding his tonfas.

"Who's that!" Rita hissed.

"Vongola's cloud guardian, Hibari Kyoya," Pietro replied and shifted nervously. "A most formidable opponent."

"Oh? So you think you have the right to say my full name, Herbivore?" Hibari queried, amused. Then raised his tonfas threateningly. "You won't get away from me this time."

"This time?" Rita gave Pietro a questioning look.

Pietro squirmed under her gaze, "I might have...caught his attention while scouting young Vongola's school..."

"And you call me an idiot!" Rita shrieked.

"Silence, Herbivore!" Hibari snarled, then pointed at Tsuna with a tonfa. "I will not tolerate a kidnapping attempt in my town either." _That's all he cares about!_ Tsuna felt like crying. So Hibari was only doing this for himself as usual!

"Rita," Pietro leaned in close to her ear, "The cloud guardian is not someone to be trifled with. One of us needs to escape with the young Vongola while we still have the chance." Rita nodded in understanding.

"All right then. I'll keep him distracted and you take little Vongola to the rendezvous place, okay?"

"Are you certain about this, Rita? Hibari Kyoya is no pushover." Rita nodded again, albeit a little impatiently.

"Yes. Now go!" She took a few steps towards Hibari and pulled out more roses from within her suit. Pietro took this chance to run over to Tsuna who was still on the ground and scooped him up and ran, carrying him bridal style. To say that Tsuna was uncomfortable with this was an understatement. Each time Pietro brought his leg up as he ran he managed to knee Tsuna right in his tailbone each time. Tsuna really did have horrible luck.

"I won't let you escape! Roll, Cambio Forma!" Hibari was immediately dressed in a trench coat, and with a murderous glint in his eyes he tossed needle sphere forms after them. The speed they were traveling at was faster than Pietro could run, and the road was immediately blocked off by giant sphere needles as they grew in size. The needles imbedded themselves into the pavement and into the sides of the buildings, leaving no room to jump through.

"Damn it!" Pietro stopped abruptly and turned back to face Hibari, Tsuna still in his arms.

"Hey!" Rita shot a rose at Hibari, which he instantly deflected. He turned his head and glared at her. "I'm your opponent right now, so don't ignore me!" Once again, she fanned out her roses and was about to toss them when Hibari shot towards her at an abnormal speed. Her eyes widened in surprise at the speed he was moving at and cartwheeled backwards to avoid the swipe the raven haired teen made at her head with his tonfa.

"Shit..." Rita immediately planted a storm rose at her feet and cartwheeled out of the way once more when Hibari swung at her. He was unable to stop his movements and ended up creating a large dent in the building his tonfa collided with. Hibari brushed off the dirt and shot after Rita once more, falling into a pattern of him swinging, her evading and planting a rose and so on. Tsuna was just glad that this part of Namimori was pretty much abandoned. He wasn't sure he wanted to see anyone innocent get caught up in that. Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise when he suddenly felt Pietro begin moving again.

Pietro made a mad dash for the opposite end of the road, which Hibari hadn't blocked off using Roll. Hibari noticed and immediately began pursuing them.

"I won't let you, Cloudy!" Rita yelled and immediately pulled out a rain rose. _How many roses did she have in her suit?_ With a cry she shot it up into the air, its flames immediately connecting with those of the storm roses. Hibari stopped in his tracks when the flames surrounded him and formed a cage. Tsuna screwed his eyes shut in frustration. It was going to be a repeat of what happened to Gokudera. And once again, Tsuna was helpless to do anything.

The flames shot out and began their assault on Hibari, causing him to grunt out of pain. He fell onto his knees, his strength slowly being sucked out. It really was hopeless wasn't it?

* * *

Yep. Hibari's just too cool to scream out of pain.

Hope you guys liked the action. I'm not sure how it turned out since it's my first time writing an action fic and all, but let me know if you have any suggestions on how I can improve. Your feedback is much appreciated!


	3. The Tables Have Turned

Sorry I'm late. I had to focus on school and testing since I'm still in high-school. But I'm gonna be a Senior! I'm so excited! Now it's summer, and I'll have more time to focus on my stories. I still have summer home-work so I can't dedicate myself to the story, but I'll still be able to work on them so a big thanks to those who have been patient. Thank you!

Special thanks to:

Final Syai Lunar Generation – Aw! Thanks so much! You're review had me grinning like an idiot. I'm so happy you like my story this much. I hope you like the rest of my story as well!

Princess Arcs Di Cielo - Thanks, and yeah, Kyoya, go save Tsuna!

Lady Suzy - Glad you're loving the story.

Hibird – Thanks! I'm glad you like the story.

Xoe-Indigo – Thanks a bunch. I was worried since it was my first time writing action and all. It's actually a little tough trying to keep Gokudera in character, but I'm glad that it seems to be working so far.

Max Corvin: Thanks for reviewing! As for why they're after Tsuna...it's a secret ;) Thanks again, and I'll keep trying my best!

Yumi del Vongola: Thank you! :)

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this?

* * *

_The flames shot out and began their assault on Hibari, causing him to grunt out of pain. He fell onto his knees, his strength slowly being sucked out. It really was hopeless wasn't it?_

X X X

Tsuna tried his best to look back at his cloud guardian, but it was getting more and more difficult as Pietro carried Tsuna farther and farther away. Pietro noticed Tsuna looking back and dug his fingers into the brunette's back in order to get his attention.

"Do not even think about it, young Vongola. Besides, you are in no position to be worrying about othe-" Pietro was cut off suddenly when a little, yellow puff-ball dived bomb and hit him square in between the eyes. He let out a strangled groan and before Pietro could do anything else his feet were swept out from under him, causing him to fall backwards. Tsuna, unable to do anything just closed his eyes as the inertia from falling causing him to roll a couple times before he ended up flat on his stomach.

Grunting with effort, Tsuna raised his head and was surprised to see that Pietro had been knocked out. Continuing around, he spotted a tonfa on the ground just a little ways away. Assuming that the tonfa had been what had tripped Pietro, Tsuna turned to see that Hibari was miraculously still awake. Leaning on one knee, Hibari had one arm outstretched which was probably the arm he'd used to throw the tonfa. He brought his arm back in to his side.

"Didn't I say that I wouldn't let you escape?" Hibari growled. Using his leg as support, the prefect pushed himself up so that he was standing, albeit a little wobbly.

"Impossible!" Rita shouted, her voice laced with panic. "You shouldn't be able to stand up, much less talk!"

"And you shouldn't still be conscious," Hibari raised his tonfa and giving it a little shake released the chain at the end of it. "Be prepared, Herbivore. I'm going to bite you to death soon enough." Rita flinched at the sudden killing intent Hibari was radiating off.

"J-just try it, Cloudy!" Rita taunted. Hibari glared at her before spinning around, the chain on his tonfa continually extending and hitting away at the roses surrounding him. The flame connection began breaking, and the flame cage began flickering, teetering on the edge of burning out. Rita's eyes widened in horror when she realized what he was doing. "Shit!"

Before Rita could do anything the same little, yellow puff-ball that had knocked out Pietro dive-bombed at her. She managed to noticed it in time, dodging out of the way as it whistled past her ear. "What the hell!"

The puff-ball dive-bombed at her once more. But this time Rita was prepared and lashed out with the flat of her arm, knocking the puff-ball out the air and into the ground where it began chirping in alarm. _Chirping?_ Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise as he realized that the puff-ball was actually Hibird.

"Hibari! Hibari!" Hibird called out in his high-pitched chirping voice.

Rita clenched her fists and glared down at Hibird then raised her foot as she prepared to step down on him. "Damn bird!"

Hibari took that moment to barrel into her, making sure that his remaining tonfa hit her square in the stomach. He was annoyed that she had forgotten about him and was particularly annoyed that she had attacked Hibird, who was still chirping frantically. Rita grunted in pain, but grabbed the prefect by his collar and threw him over her shoulder with a shout. Hibari flipped in the air and landed gracefully on the ground as though he were a cat.

Rita grabbed at her stomach and took a few hasty steps away from the prefect, hissing in pain as she did so. Her stomach felt like it was about to cave in. Pietro had been right about not underestimating the cloud guardian. He was one of those rare people that had ever managed to break free from her technique. Now she was in trouble. The rose cage was her only long-range attack, and Rita doubted that she could take this monster head on in hand-to-hand combat.

As if noticing her uneasiness, Hibari sneered and twirled his tonfa before gripping it and holding it up. Rita was expecting Hibari to make a declaration of some sort, but she was caught by surprise when he just rushed her. Rita held up her arm and used it to parry the blow Hibari made with his tonfa. However, her arm wasn't strong enough to handle the attack, and the result was a sickening, cracking sound followed by a blood-curdling scream. Rita fell to her knees, cradling her broken arm to her chest. Unaffected, Hibari continued with his attack, determined to end it once and for all.

Completely caught off guard, Rita wasn't able to defend herself, giving Hibari the opportunity to smash his tonfa into her cheek. Rita crumpled to the ground and lay unmoving, seemingly unconscious. Hibari stood above her, and stared down at her. Even though she seemed to be knocked out Hibari wanted to be certain. The prefect took a step forward and nudged her in the side with his foot. Rita didn't react, and satisfied that she really was out Hibari sniffed disdainfully and turned to face Tsuna.

He raised his eyebrow in surprise at what he saw. The man that Hibird had knocked out earlier seemed to have woken up and was now currently limping off with Tsuna thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Hibari breathed out of his nose in irritation. Why were herbivores so stubborn?

"Hey, you," Hibari called out, then began following after them.

Pietro spared a glance behind him, and upon seeing Hibari advancing decided to just run the hell away, and as fast as he could. There was no way Pietro was going to take the cloud guardian head on. Tsuna sighed internally when he saw that Pietro was just going to run. _Just let me go! I'm tired of being man-handled!_

Hibari sighed, and not wanting to waste anymore energy just tossed his tonfa, sending it spiraling into the back of Pietro's head. It successfully knocked Pietro unconscious, and sent him falling forwards. But unfortunately for poor Tsuna, Pietro's dead weight ended up pinning him to the ground.

Tsuna groaned, and tried rolling out from under Pietro but he was too heavy and Tsuna just ended up flailing uselessly and fell back against the ground in defeat. That was when Hibari appeared above Tsuna and just looked down at him. Tsuna noticed that Hibird was perched on Hibari's head, and that the prefect had retrieved both of his tonfas, which were in his hands and at the ready. Tsuna then glanced up at Hibari, and whilst his face was a mask of apathy, Tsuna was trying his best to relay the fact that he needed his help through his facial features.

Hibari seemed to get the message, because he immediately stuck his foot under Pietro and kicked him out of the way, not caring about how he landed on his head and lay in a jumble against the ground. Tsuna winced in sympathy, but was brought back to attention when Hibari knelt down beside him. The prefect's eyes scanned Tsuna's body, paying close attention to the flaming bondage on the brunette's mouth and limbs.

Hibari decided to remove the flames around the brunette's mouth first, but when he reached down to touch them they suddenly flared up, burning both boys. Whilst Hibari was able to get away from the heat, Tsuna was stuck with it and screwed his eyes shut in pain as the heat lashed out at his lips and the surrounding area. When the burning went down, Tsuna opened his eyes and noticed that Hibari was frowning.

"Who put these on you, Herbivore?" he inquired. There was an awkward silence as Hibari waited for Tsuna's answer. But Tsuna just squirmed uncomfortably under Hibari's gaze, trying to let him know that he couldn't answer lest he risk getting burned again. Hibari didn't seem to get the message because he frowned and growled at the poor brunette, "Well? Who put them on you?"

Not wanting to be on the receiving end of Hibari's wrath, Tsuna frantically gestured towards Rita with his chin. _Her! Her! That person over there! _Thankfully, Hibari got that, and after standing up he made his way over to Rita's side. The prefect glared down at her and kicked her in the side in an attempt to wake her. It worked. Rita's eyes shot open and grabbed at her side, curling in on herself as she let out hacking coughs. She was being careful of her broken arm though, as it was carefully tucked against her stomach.

"Listen up, Herbivore," Hibari's voice was laced with venom as he glared down at Rita. "I want you to get rid of those flames tying up Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Or what?" Rita spat out, wiping some blood away from her mouth.

"Or this." To prove his point Hibari brought his foot down on Rita's broken arm, causing her to howl in pain. Instead of moving his foot away he kept it on her arm and applied some more pressure for good measure. "Now release Sawada Tsunayoshi." Rita screwed her eyes shut in pain as a mental battle waged in her mind. The deciding factor was when Hibari added a little more pressure and there was a popping sound.

"All right, all right! I'll let him go! I swear! Just get off!" Satisfied with her answer Hibari took his foot off and motioned with his head for her to get up. Rita stood up sluggishly, feeling a little light-headed as well before limping over to Tsuna's side. She was careful of her broken arm, and once she was standing over the brunette she collapsed onto her knees and leaned over him. Tsuna glanced up at her, curious as to what she was about to do.

Rita put her arms over Tsuna's body, but froze when she felt something cool and hard press against the back of her neck. "Take the flames away and nothing more," Hibari warned.

Stiffly, and slowly Rita moved her hands so that they were just hovering over Tsuna's chest. She furrowed her brows together in concentration and the flames binding Tsuna began flickering before flowing up and into her outstretched hands. It was just a few seconds before all of the flames were gone and Tsuna was freed. Although there were still some lingering effects of the burns on Tsuna's lips and body. His body was also a little stiff from being bound for so long and his muscles protested as he sat up. The brunette rubbed at his wrists, frowning at the burns, but enjoying being able to move them once again.

"Move away, Herbivore," Hibari ordered. Tsuna stiffened when he realized that Hibari had been addressing him and hastily scrambled backwards. He stopped when he bumped into something and turning around, realized that it was Pietro. _Nuts..._ Remembering the small lion, Tsuna began digging into each of Pietro's pockets until he found his ring. The brunette slid the ring back on his finger sighing as a familiar sensation shot up his arm and spread throughout the rest of his body.

"Good to have you back, Nuts," Tsuna whispered to the ring. There was a small growl in response. All the while, Rita's furious gaze was on the brunette. When Tsuna noticed her looking at him, he looked away, but gathering his courage he stood up. Hibari remained silent as he watched the brunette walk over and stop in front of the woman, curious to see what the herbivore would do.

"Why?" Tsuna asked. He could have said so many other things, but with so many things having just happened he felt like that word alone could suffice for this situation. Rita closed her eyes and smiled scornfully.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Sweetie," she answered. Hibari twitched slightly at this statement, but it went unnoticed by the other two. Rita bent down so that her hair created a curtain around her face. "Besides, you'll find out soon enough. Once they've realized that we've failed they'll send more people until they get you. Boss won't be happy once he hears this." She scoffed scornfully as she said this.

Tsuna frowned. "Who's your boss?" Rita opted to remain silent and just turned away, ignoring Tsuna's question. Hibari frowned and jabbed his tonfa into her neck, causing her to jolt in surprise.

"Answer the question, Herbivore, or I'll beat it out of you," Hibari threatened. Tsuna frowned, not wanting to have to resort to violence, but he remained quiet since it was probably the only way they were going to get answers. Rita's eyes widened in terror as Hibari pushed the tonfa further into her neck, causing her muscles to scream in protest at the sudden pressure. She knew that Hibari wasn't bluffing, but she had no way of escaping. Not if she wanted to be sporting a huge bruise at the end of this whole thing.

Luckily for Rita, she was spared the pain of being interrogated when a sudden blur swept by, grabbing her as it went by. Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise, but he was able to follow the movement. As his eyes focused, Tsuna recognized the blur as Pietro who was holding Rita in his arms bridal style. Pietro cast a glance back at the young mafia boss, his eyes narrowing as though upholding the promise that this wasn't over.

Hibari growled, more in frustration at being caught off guard and began his pursuit of them. He was forced to stop when there was a sudden rhythmic thumping sound and a helicopter passed by overhead, its blades pushing around the air below. A powerful gale filled the street and began blowing around debris and relatively small objects.

"Hiee!" Tsuna shrieked when a newspaper flapped right into his face, obscuring his vision. He pulled it off in time to see the helicopter hovering just above the rooftops. Tsuna grunted, and bowed his head, trying to prevent dust and dirt from pelting his eyes and face. His hair was billowing out all over the place, and a few stray strands were scratching at his eyes. Despite this, Tsuna raised his head and lifted his arms so that they formed a sort of shield in front of him. Hibari was in a similar situation, but he quickly recovered from his intial surprise and continued his pursuit.

That was when Tsuna noticed that there was a ladder hanging from the helicopter, and Pietro, still carrying Rita grabbed onto it. The helicopter immediately rose into the air, with its passengers in tow. Hibari increased his pace, but when he jumped at the ladder he just missed the rung and ended up falling back to the ground. He landed on his feet, but immediately spun around and tossed some of Roll's needle spheres towards the helicopter, aiming for the glass where the pilot was sitting.

Tsuna thought that the needle spheres would shatter the glass, but a wall of lightning flames suddenly shot up, disintegrating the needle spheres as they passed through. Hibari's eyes narrowed at this, but he didn't try to do anything else, seeing as the helicopter was now too far gone. The sounds of the blades chopping through the air eventually died down the further the helicopter went until the sound was gone all together. Tsuna stared up at the sky and collapsed onto his knees, feeling totally drained and exhausted. _It's finally over..._

Hibari cast a glance at the brunette, knowing exactly how he was feeling but too prideful to show any weakness. Instead, Hibari opted for just changing out of his Vongola Gear. His trench-coat disappeared, morphing back into a bracelet. Hibari remained in his usual attire, consisting of his school uniform with the jacket draped over his shoulders. Yawning, Hibari turned to face the brunette, only to stop in surprise when said herbivore shot up from where he was kneeling and yelled.

"Oh, Kami!" Tsuna turned to look at the warehouse he'd initially been captured in. "Gokudera! I've got to help him!" He brought his leg forward only to find himself tripping over his other leg. Tsuna whimpered as he crashed face-first into the ground, but pushed himself up so that he was propped up by his elbows. _Man...I'm more tired than I thought. _Hibari seemed to notice Tsuna's dilemma, and breathed out his nose in annoyance.

"Herbivore..." Tsuna turned to see Hibari walking up to him. "Do not worry about that delinquent. I've got some of my people helping him already. He'll be brought to Namimori Hospital where he'll be treated." _His people?_ But sure enough, as Tsuna watched the entrance to the warehouse he watched as a disciplinary committee member exited the building and glanced over at Tsuna before going on his way.

"Ah..." Tsuna sighed in relief, and sagged against the ground, suddenly feeling even more exhausted. "I'm glad. Thanks, Hibari-san."

"Hn..." Hibari grunted in response and took another step closer to the brunette, putting his tonfas away as he did so. Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise when he felt a hand grip his arm and pull him up in one swift motion. Hibari set Tsuna on his feet, although he still kept hold of Tsuna's arm.

"Um...Hibari-san?" Tsuna glanced up at the prefect's face which was a mask of indifference.

"You need to be treated as well, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari motioned towards Tsuna's wrists which were still sporting burns. Then he looked at Tsuna's lips. Curious, Tsuna put his fingers to his lips and winced at the contact. Even though he couldn't see them he was sure that they were pretty burned up as well. Especially with the way Hibari was looking at them. Tsuna just shrugged and decided to shift the attention away from him.

"But you need to be treated as well, don't you, Hibari-san?" Tsuna said, remembering how Hibari's flames had been drained in his fight earlier. Hibari frowned and turned away at the concerned look Tsuna gave him. Deciding to ignore him, the prefect reached into his jacket and pulled out a small radio, pulling it up to his mouth.

"Kusakabe."

"Yes, Kyou-san?" Kusakabe's deep voice rang out almost immediately from the speakers, albeit a little scratchy.

"Bring around my car," Hibari ordered. _Hibari-san has a car!_

"Yes, Kyou-san!" Apparently Hibari liked quick and short responses?

As soon as Kusakabe said that a car came speeding down from around the corner and shot towards them. Tsuna shrieked as it spun and began spiraling towards them, but Hibari's hold on his arm prevented him from moving out of the way. Screwing his eyes shut in anticipation, Tsuna waited for the pain that was sure to come. But instead, there was a screeching sound. The smell of burned rubber reached Tsuna's nose, and when the sounds stopped and the pain never came Tsuna found himself being pushed into an idle car which miraculously hadn't run them over.

"Ah!" Tsuna let out a little cry as he fell against the seats and quickly moved aside as Hibari slid in as well, closing the door behind him. Kusakabe turned out to be the driver and offered a small smile to Tsuna as he tried sitting on the seat without disturbing Hibari who had immediately reclined in his own seat.

"Herbivore hurt!" Hibird gave a little chirp when Tsuna glanced at him. Tsuna had forgotten that Hibird had fought his own battle and must have been hurting as well. He was such a small little thing, too.

"Evening, Sawada-san. How are you feeling?" Kusakabe asked as he shifted the car's gear into drive. _Wait. Isn't Kusakabe a middle-schooler?_ That little scene on its own reminded Tsuna of the strange privileges the disciplinary committee seemed to grant its own members.

"Ah...I'm fine, thanks," Tsuna replied, still trying to understand how he had ended up in this situation. He just wanted the day to be over with already.

"And you, Kyou-san?" Kusakabe dared to ask. Actually, Kusakabe was probably the only person who could ask that and not be bitten to death for annoying the prefect. But Hibari just yawned and looked out the window, ignoring Kusakabe's question. _What a brat!_ Tsuna couldn't help but feel somewhat annoyed at Hibari's behavior, whilst on the other hand Kusakabe just smiled and dismissed his boss's behavior, probably used to it by now.

Kusakabe made a sudden sharp turn to the left which caused Tsuna to slide into Hibari's side. Scared that Hibari would bite him to death, Tsuna immediately slid away and began apologizing, bowing as best as could in the cramped space.

"I'm sorry, Hibari-san! Sorry!" Tsuna blurted out. Hibari just turned to look out the window, covering his mouth with his hand and trying to hide the small smile that was threatening to show on his face. This was a first for him, and it left him somewhat confused as to why he was reacting like this. That scene just now...Hibari thought it was a little cute. Hibari didn't do cute.

Taking Hibari's silence as forgiveness, Tsuna quieted down and leaned into his seat, wishing with all his being that he could just dissolve into it. He was going to be bitten to death just for being in such a confined space with Hibari, he just knew it. Hibari didn't like crowding, after all.

They eventually made it to the hospital, and when Kusakabe parked the car Hibari threw the door open and addressed Kusakabe, "Get the Herbivore to the doctor, then find me once your done." Then he stalked into the hospital leaving behind a confused Tsuna and an amused Kusakabe. Tsuna cast a worried look at Kusakabe, who returned the look although without the worry behind it.

"I-I didn't make Hibari-san angry, did I?" Tsuna asked. Kusakabe shook his head and offered a reassuring smile to the brunette.

"Don't worry about it, Sawada-san," Kusakabe explained, "Kyou-san just has a lot on his mind right now."

"Oh, okay..." Even though Kusakabe said that Hibari wasn't angry, there was still a sharp pang in Tsuna's chest at the thought of having the prefect angry at him. Especially after all that he had done. Tsuna closed his eyes and groaned, pulling his legs to his chest. He still needed to properly thank Hibari as well.

X X X

Meanwhile, on the helicopter...

Rita hissed in pain as Pietro finished splinting her broken arm. She had to admit...it was nice having a team-mate with medical expertise. But it still didn't change the fact that her arm was hurting like hell! Pietro began gathering up his supplies, a grim look on his face as he did so.

"Boss is not going to be very happy, is he, Rita?" Pietro frowned, and Rita also returned the frown. As of now, they were on a private plane headed back home for Italy where their boss was expecting for there to be a third passenger with them. They had about fifteen hours before they landed, but Rita was dreading every second they spent getting closer. Rita sighed and began fiddling with the tape that was holding her arm to the splint.

"I think so, Pietro," Rita responded glumly. "He told us to bring back little Vongola otherwise we would regret failing him. You know what happened to the last people who failed on their mission. And they just had to deliver some goods, not nearly as important as our mission."

"Well, we can hope, can we not?" Pietro replied, trying to reassure his partner and as well as himself. Rita just shrugged and looked out the window, tuning out whatever else Pietro was saying. If only the cloud guardian hadn't shown up...then they wouldn't have to be facing death in fifteen hours.

* * *

So, finally Tsuna's safe and sound. At least for now...There's trouble lurking on the horizon. Ah, I have this story planned out in my head, but not on paper! Or on the computer I guess in this case...

Anyways, you guys know the drill, right? Read...review...questions or concerns...blah blah blah...the usual. Thanks again for reading! See you again, desu~


	4. Hospital Blues

(Edit of information regarding the site and of Critics United at the end.)

Sorry for the late update guys. My family was in the process moving and we didn't have internet set up. But now here I am, and back in business...somewhat. I still have summer homework...blegh. A lot has also happened to me, so I've been a little depressed, and my motivation to write has been zip to none.

A little note: I know I called Tsuna's box animal Nuts last chapter, but I feel like it's more appropriate to call him Natsu. So, as of now, Nuts shall be known as Natsu. Hopefully this avoids any confusion.

Special thanks to these folks for their reviews:

LadySuzy, hammanop, animemichy, Rosey

* * *

"_Well, we can hope, can we not?" Pietro replied, trying to reassure his partner and as well as himself. Rita just shrugged and looked out the window, tuning out whatever else Pietro was saying. If only the cloud guardian hadn't shown up...then they wouldn't have to be facing death in fifteen hours._

X X X

Hibari's eyes narrowed as he felt a sudden urge to sneeze. Biting the tingling sensation to death since he didn't feel like sneezing, Hibari leaned into the hospital bed he'd been given and closed his eyes in thought. Either he was catching a cold or there was someone talking about him...and the prefect had a feeling it was the latter. Then that reminded him of the herbivores he'd failed to bite to death. Growling in frustration, Hibari rolled onto his side, slightly disturbing Hibird who in turn chirped in annoyance before settling back down on the pillow.

But...Hibari had a feeling that what the female herbivore had said wasn't just a bluff or threat.

"_Besides, you'll find out soon enough. Once they've realized that we've failed they'll send more people until they get you. Boss won't be happy once he hears this."_

That 'Boss', Hibari had a really overwhelming urge to bite him (or her) to death. First off for wreaking havoc and destroying _his _Namimori, and also for daring to go after-

Hibari's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Kyo-san? May I come in?" Kusakabe. Hibari grunted in response as his right hand entered, gently closing the door behind him. Kusakabe was used to Hibari's behavior and didn't take it too seriously when he saw that his boss had his back to him. "Are you feeling all right, Kyo-san?" Kusakabe asked.

"Has that herbivore been examined yet?"

Kusakabe knit his brows together in confusion, "Um, you mean Sawada?"

"What's his condition?" Hibari asked, slightly annoyed. He didn't like repeating himself.

"Well, I don't know. I didn't stay the whole time, but the nurse said that he should be fine after getting some rest," Kusakabe explained.

"I see..." Hibari responded lowly, sounding the tiniest bit disappointed. This didn't go unnoticed by Kusakabe who then crossed his arms, brows still knit together in confusion.

"Out of curiosity why did you want to know, Kyo-san?" This was a first for Kusakabe to hear his boss _actually_ concerned for another human being.

"If something horrible happened to any person living here, it would tarnish the reputation of Namimori, and I will not allow that to happen," Hibari supplied simply. "Do I need anymore of a reason than that, Kusakabe?"

"I...suppose not, Kyo-san," Kusakabe replied. Hibari felt somewhat pleased that Kusakabe accepted that as an answer, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was wondering exactly why he even felt the need to have to explain himself. To Kusakabe nonetheless! "Well, if you don't need anything else, Kyo-san, I'll just be heading out."

"Go. I'll call you if I need anything else," Hibari said, then covered his mouth as he yawned widely. All he wanted right then was to get in some sleep since his nap had been disturbed earlier.

"As you wish, Kyo-san," Kusakabe bowed, and promptly left the room, leaving the prefect alone. Hibari took a deep breath and yawned once more but frowned when Hibird jumped onto his head and began chirping loudly.

"Tired! Hibari tired?"

"Yes, I'm tired so let me sleep," Hibari answered before brushing Hibird off his head, especially since he'd begun pecking him. Apparently, Hibird was undeterred by this action as he immediately jumped back on top of Hibari's head.

"Hungry. Hungry!" Hibird complained, then began pecking at Hibari's brow with renewed determination in order to get his attention. Hibari groaned and grabbed Hibird so that only his little head was showing from his fist. "Hungry, Hibari!"

"Listen, you," Hibari sighed, "If you're hungry go look for Kusakabe to feed you. I'm trying to sleep."

"No!" Hibird chirped angrily and began thrashing around in Hibari's grasp. "Feed me, Hibari!"

"Fine, I guess you deserve a treat after all," Hibari stated, remembering how the little bird had tried assisting him in his fight. Hibird had come away with only scratches, but it only further proved to Hibari that he needed to protect this little one from further harm.

X X X

"How do you always manage to get yourself into trouble, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn shook his head and sighed, remembering all of the times this kid had gotten himself into trouble. True, most of the time it had been Reborn inflicting the trouble or pain, but that wasn't the point.

"Mou! It's not my fault I was almost kidnapped, Reborn!" Tsuna whined as said infant immediately shot a death glare towards his student. The brunette instinctively flinched and tried inching away from the hitman. Tsuna didn't even know how Reborn was able to find him so easily, but when he flew in through the window using Leon as a hang-glider the hitman instantly settled in and made himself comfortable at the foot of Tsuna's bed.

"Well, do you at least know the reason why they went after you?" Reborn inquired, crossing his arms. "You should have been able to that out at least."

"Um...not exactly," _Crap..._Tsuna felt his blood run cold with fear as he realized that he really hadn't gotten an explanation for why he was almost kidnapped. They'd escaped before he could find out. Reborn immediately noticed the brunette's hesitation and scowled as Tsuna shot him a fearful look.

"You really are Dame-Tsuna, aren't you?" Reborn sighed and rubbed at his temple, trying to alleviate the oncoming headache he was getting. "Well, either way, I'm going to have to call the Nono about this. He'll want to know, and then we can find out who they are. There's no doubt that they won't try again."

"Ah, yeah. That's what that lady told me, there would be more people coming, until they get me." Tsuna frowned remembering those last words she had told him. "But what was surprising was that they knew about me."

"Well of course they knew about you," Reborn said, slightly annoyed. "That's why they went after you in the first place isn't it?"

"Ah! No, I meant that they knew about my fighting style. About Natsu and the Dying Will pills...even my Hyper Intuition," Tsuna frowned worriedly at Reborn. "Why do you think they knew all that stuff, Reborn?"

Reborn remained silent for a few moments, thinking on what his student just revealed. "There has to be a spy somewhere...that's the only explanation I can think of right now. Someone in Namimori has been keeping an eye on you." Reborn 'tsked' in frustration, "And they must be pretty good considering they've avoided detection up till now. I'll have to run a search on everyone...How troublesome."

"Eh? Everyone?" Tsuna should have expected this. Of course everything in his life always had to somehow relate back to the mafia. Tsuna glanced over to the bed next to him where Gokudera lay asleep. The bomber had bandages all over his body from being crushed underneath the boxes. The nurses had said that he'd be fine after some rest, but Tsuna couldn't help but worry.

Tsuna sighed deeply and tugged at his bangs. Why couldn't he just be allowed to live a nice, peaceful life with his friends? Then he would marry Kyoko and save up enough money to buy a nice, big house. Big enough for a family at least. Then he'd somehow manage to get a job working as an important CEO to a company and everyday he'd come home to a smiling face, a 'Welcome home, Dear' and a nice kiss on the-

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face," Reborn growled as he kicked Tsuna upside the head. "It's very disturbing. Besides that, Kyoko doesn't deserve to have perverts thinking of her in that way."

Tsuna blushed furiously, "Don't read my mind, Reborn!"

Reborn scoffed and smirked, "Who needs to read your mind when your face says it all?" If possible, Tsuna's blush darkened and he decided to pull his sheets completely over him in order to hide.

"Just go away, Reborn!" Tsuna's voice was partly muffled from under the blankets, "The injured need to rest-" Reborn grabbed hold of Tsuna's pointer finger and twisted it round his back, making the brunette to hunch over. "Owowowow!"

"Don't order me around," Reborn warned, then released Tsuna's finger. Tsuna whimpered and cradled his finger close to his chest, afraid that Reborn would try to twist it back again. "Anyways, I'm going to head on out now and see what Nono wants to do. Knowing him, he'll probably want to send some of his people over to protect over you-"

"I won't allow it." Both Tsuna and Reborn turned towards the hospital door in surprise as it suddenly slid open.

"Hibari-san?" Tsuna's jaw fell slightly in surprise at the sight while Reborn just crossed his arms. Standing in the doorway was Hibari, dressed in black hospital scrubs. Though, he was still had his jacket draped over his shoulders. It was a really weird get up.

The skylark entered the room, keeping his glare on Reborn, "I won't allow anyone to bring strangers into _my_ Namimori. Not even you, Infant. If you do I will personally see to it that they are bitten to death."

"Really? I see..." Reborn paused in thought. "So, what are you saying? Are you going to allow further harm to come to Namimori? I can promise that by bringing in some of Vongola's people the safety of both Namimori's town and people would be ensured. Do you really want to take that risk? As long as Tsuna is here there will be many more attempts to get at him."

Hibari's eyes narrowed then slid over so that they were resting on said brunette. "I know what risks I'll be taking. That's exactly why I'm going to have the Disciplinary Committee be on all around guard duty. And I will personally be responsible for the herbivore's safety."

"Eh?" _What! _Tsuna had only been half-listening and he was caught completely by surprise by Hibari's declaration. "Eh!" Even Reborn was surprised, although he was good at hiding it. The hitman opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by an angry cry that erupted from the neighboring bed.

"Like hell you will, bastard!" Tsuna turned his head to look at a now awake, and very angry Gokudera who was propped up on his elbow and glaring viciously at Hibari.

"Gokudera-kun! You're all right!" Tsuna was glad that his friend had woken up, but right now he was more worried about the sparks that were flying between his two guardians.

"As the Tenth's right hand man, it's my duty and-" Gokudera suddenly winced and grabbed onto his shoulder, groaning in pain. "Ugh...and my responsibility to protect him!"

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna threw off his sheets and rushed to his friends side, pushing him back into his bed. Sternly, he said, "You can't be moving around, you need to rest and let your wounds heal."

Gokudera scowled and grabbed onto Tsuna's wrists, preventing him from moving away. "Believe me when I say this, Tenth. You know I can protect you."

"Um..." Tsuna frowned and looked down at his wrists where Gokudera was grasping him. Honestly, he just wanted Gokudera to recover completely before he even thought about fighting to protect him, but Hibari spoke up before he could even open his mouth.

"Oh?" Hibari sneered, sounding amused. "But if I remember correctly the reason why both you _and_ him are in the hospital is because you weren't able to protect him at all. The herbivore would have been taken away had I not shown up when I had."

"Bastard!" Gokudera snarled, and unintentionally gripped Tsuna's wrists too hard.

"Nng!" Tsuna winced and pulled his arms away, massaging at his wrists.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, Tenth," Gokudera bowed apologetically, "I'm truly sorry!"

Tsuna smiled softly, "It's all right-"

"See?" Hibari sneered again, "That explosive temper of yours does more harm than good. Besides, you're of no use to the herbivore in your present condition. It'll be better for you to recover before you allow yourself to undergo more harm."

Gokudera opened his mouth as though he was about to retaliate, but when he glanced at Tsuna and saw his face he just looked away and grimaced. Even though he didn't want to admit it, what Hibari said was true. The look on Tsuna's face told him that Hibari was only speaking what Tsuna was feeling, although probably in harsher words.

"Wow, Hibari," Reborn said, finally getting the chance to speak, "I didn't realize that you actually cared about people."

"I don't," Hibari replied his features darkening. "The only thing I'm concerned about are those people I fought before...they weren't effectively bitten to death. If they show up again then I can probably get in another good fight."

_This battle maniac..._Tsuna sighed. It was stupid of him in the first place to even expect the aloof guardian to start caring for others. Even though Tsuna was used to the prefect's cold demeanor towards the human species in general...why was Hibari's response leaving Tsuna with such a dull ache in his chest?

"Herbivore."

Tsuna startled at being suddenly addressed. "Y-yes, Hibari-san?"

"You will be moving into my room so then I can keep an eye on you," Hibari said, but it sounded more like an order.

"Your room? W-wait, now?" Tsuna squeaked, "But-"

"Yes, now. When else would it be?" Hibari sighed and with a swish of his jacket began walking back towards the hospital door, which had been open the whole time. When Tsuna didn't immediately follow, Hibari stopped only to glare back. Somewhat impatiently he asked, "Well? Are you coming or not?"

"Eh! But, my stuff..." Tsuna motioned towards his clothes, since he had changed into patient scrubs. His school bag, which had been retrieved by one of the disciplinary members, was there as well. He was wearing his ring, but it just felt weird leaving behind his things. That reminded Tsuna of his lost Dying Will pills...he'd have to get some more later.

"I'll have someone retrieve it later," Hibari replied and began walking again. "Now hurry up or I'll bite you to death."

"Hiee! All right, all right, I'm coming!" Tsuna immediately followed after the prefect, but stopped and turned around when he remembered something. "Ah! Gokudera-kun, I'll come by to see you later, all right?"

Before Gokudera could respond, Hibari growled and grabbed onto the back of Tsuna's collar, causing the smaller boy to yelp as he was then dragged out of the room.

"That stupid bastard," Gokudera muttered, "he shouldn't be allowed to touch the Tenth like that."

"..." Reborn cast a sideways glance at the silver-haired bomber, who had his legs drawn up to his chest and a scowl on his face. "You're being unusually reserved about this, Gokudera," he noted. "Did you take what Hibari said to heart?"

Gokudera's scowl deepened, but it was hidden when he hid his face against his knees. "Reborn-san?"

"Yes?"

"I'm a failure as the Tenth's right hand man, aren't I? I'm supposed to be able to keep him safe from anything or anyone, but I wasn't strong enough. That cloud bastard was right, Tenth wouldn't even be here right now if he hadn't shown up."

"That's why you have to get stronger."

Gokudera lifted his head. "Is that the only way, Reborn-san?"

Reborn tilted his fedora down so that it was covering his eyes. "Yes, if you become even stronger then you can definitely protect Tsuna."

Gokudera frowned, "But..." He shook his head, and his frown was replaced with a look of determination. "No. You're right, Reborn. I'll get strong enough so that no one will even dare to think about harming the Tenth-" Gokudera froze when a sharp pain shot across his back and he ended up curling in on himself from the pain.

"Well, it seems like Hibari was right about this as well," Reborn noted, "You're pretty much useless until you heal up somewhat. So just take it easy for a while, all right? It'll make Tsuna feel more at ease once you get better, so do this for him, too."

"I understand, Reborn-san," Gokudera complied and leaned back into his bed. Reborn grinned and jumped onto the windowsill just as Leon began morphing into a hang-glider.

"So long as you understand. I'll be on my way now, I still need to talk to Nono." And with that Reborn shot off the windowsill and glided through the air, frowning as his thoughts turned back to Tsuna's unknown attackers.

X X X

Joel grimaced once more at the reports he had in his hand. Thanks to the hidden microphones his boss had installed for all planes of theirs, the intel team had been able to listen in on the incoming flight and thus led them to this discovery. Joel opened the doors leading to the dining hall, where the red-head knew his boss was currently residing and probably enjoying his dinner.

His boss...Adone Russo. Joel felt great admiration for this man, while also feeling an equal amount of fear. Even so, Joel was greatly indebted to Russo as he'd saved him and taken him in when no one else even bothered giving him a passing glance. So, when Joel opened the door he was very surprised to see the room empty, all except for his boss who was reclining in his seat and his other secretary, Lilian who was standing at his side.

Joel liked Lilian, her mild and gentle demeanor made it easy for her to get along with just about anyone. How she became involved in the mafia was beyond him, but even Joel had to admit she made his life a heck of a lot easier. Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun, and when they exchanged looks her blue eyes told him that their boss was in a particularly good mood. Joel sighed, already hating having to break that peace. That was when the red-head noticed that the table was also empty, all except for the vases and decorative pieces adorning it. The only noteworthy thing being the drinking glass his boss was casually holding in his hand.

"Oh. Ah...you're not eating, Sir?"

"Nope, I'm going to wait until my little guest comes. No matter how long it takes, I'll wait. Then I'm going to put on a feast so grand and fantastic that he'll be blown away." Something flashed in his boss's eyes...excitement, maybe?

"Yeah...about that, Sir. Well, the intel teams were listening in on the mics in plane 14-A7, you know, the one you gave to Pietro and Rita." Joel fingered the papers in his hands, unsure of how to bring this up.

"Ah." His boss chuckled and fingered the rim of his glass, "They're back? And so soon, too. I knew that I could count on them to get the job done."

"Actually, Sir," Joel braced himself for what he knew was to come, "We found out that...they...failed to...capture the Vongola."

Russo froze. "What?"

Joel grimaced, and he managed to catch Lilian's panic-stricken look at their boss before he continued. "They...ah, failed, Sir..."

"What!" Russo's glass shattered and dusted the ground as he threw it down in a fit of rage. Joel flinched and screwed his eyes shut when his boss continued screaming at him. "How in the world is this even possible! Where the hell are those blasted fools now!"

"They're still on the plane, Sir. The plane should arrive in several hours or so."

"Screw several hours! I want those blasted idiots right here, right now and groveling at my feet for forgiveness!" Russo roared in frustration and shot up from his seat, glass crunching under his feet. "This screws up everything! He's supposed to be here, at my side! The Vongola!" He grabbed onto the table and flipped it over, sending all of the items on top crashing to the ground. Different colored glasses mixed together, creating its own sort of rainbow amongst one another. Joel vaguely heard Lilian shriek, but she quickly stifled it.

"Sir!" Joel moved back out of fear of being hit. Of course he'd seen his boss angry before, but this in itself was something else. Russo was cursing darkly under his breath and pacing around, each step he took accompanied by the sound of crunching glass.

"...pushes our plans back...stupid idiots...Vongola..." He sighed deeply and took a seat in his chair, which had miraculously remained standing during his whole outburst. "Lilian, please go fetch me another drink...my nerves are shot right now, and I need something to calm me down..."

"Y-Yes, Sir," Lilian fast-walked into the next room where the kitchen was located.

"Joel?" Russo's hand was covering his face, like he was could hide himself through that simple act.

"Yes, Sir?"

"I want to apologize to you...and to Lilian once she returns...I should be able to control myself better..."

Joel didn't reply, he wasn't sure how in the world he should react so he just opted to remain silent. Then Lilian returned, carrying a glass identical to what Russo had been holding earlier. Russo removed his hand from his face and brought it to rest on the chair.

"Thank you, Lilian," Russo said as she handed it to him, then caught her by the elbow before she could move away. Lilian's face became plastered with primal fear as she stared down at where he'd grasped her. "And I'm sorry, Lilian. I truly am."

Lilian's features immediately softened and she smiled, relief evident on her face. "I understand, Sir..."

"I understand as well, Sir," Joel added when Russo looked at him. Best to play along to his boss's whims while he was trying to simmer down.

"Thank you both...I must be the luckiest man alive to have wonderful friends like you..." Lilian blushed slightly at the flattery, while Joel just grinned. This was the side of the boss that Joel loved. Russo continued speaking. "But you two must understand, right? Just how important the Vongola Tenth boss is to our plans?"

"Of course, Sir," Lilian rushed to agree and Joel nodded in agreement as well. Tsunayoshi Sawada, or Sawada Tsunayoshi, whichever way you wanted to say it. The Vongola Tenth boss. Yes, their plans wouldn't be able to be set into motion without him. He was very, very important to their plans.

X X X

Tsuna was scared. No...at this point he was beyond scared. He was feeling full fledged, pants-wetting and faint-inducing terror. The reason? The dark-haired enigma known as Hibari. The skylark had shown more of his dark side in the past five minutes than Tsuna had seen in the whole time he'd known the older male.

It all started when Hibari dragged Tsuna out of his room and into the halls. A few minutes later, a male nurse had stopped him and demanded to know what he was doing and where he was planning on taking Tsuna. He was bitten to death. (Questioned Hibari.)

Tears were streaming down Tsuna's face as he was dragged around some more. Then a couple of guests ended up getting into a cat fight right in front of them. They were bitten to death. (Disrupting the peace.)

Tears still streaming down Tsuna's face, Hibari dragged him around further until they were stopped in the middle of the hall by one of the male guests, obviously drunk. Tsuna panicked when the guy began taunting and jeering at Hibari. Then he panicked even more when the guy had suddenly pulled Tsuna out of Hibari's grasp and led him down the hall, an arm slung around his waist, slurring about what a 'kwoot gwirl' Tsuna was and how he would show him a 'gwood dime'. The guy was bitten to death. (Severely.)

Hibari immediately reclaimed his hold on Tsuna's collar, and Tsuna didn't even try to fight him. The killing aura surrounding Hibari was so strong that Tsuna was sure that he didn't want to push it any further. Even the people in the halls somehow instinctively knew to steer clear of the prefect. Some people even went as far as taking refuge in nearby rooms until the threat had passed.

Now they were in Hibari's room. Tsuna was cowering on the extra bed a nurse had hastily brought while Hibari sat on his own bed, murderous intent radiating off his entire being and very clear on his whole face. _Why do you hate me, God?_ Tsuna cursed his life. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Kyo-san?" A voice questioned through the door. It took Tsuna a few moments to place it, but then he recognized the voice as Kusakabe's.

"What?" Hibari's voiced was laced with anger, and Tsuna immediately feared for Kusakabe's life. Kusakabe seemed to sense Hibari's malice as well because there were a few seconds of silence before he answered.

"Sawada's mother is here to see him...Should I let her in?"

"Mom!" Tsuna quickly covered his mouth when Hibari shot him an annoyed glare.

Hibari turned back towards the door. "Let her in..." The door slid open and Sawada Nana burst into the room, instantly wrapping her arms around Tsuna.

"Oh, Tsu-kun! I'm so relieved!" Nana brushed his bangs aside and examined his face. "When Reborn-kun came home and told me that you were attacked by some thugs I was expecting the worst, but you look all right."

"Reborn said that?" Tsuna asked.

"Yeah." Nana nodded, "Reborn-kun said not to worry about you, but I couldn't help myself." She brushed his bangs aside once more, her motherly instincts probably in overdrive. Tsuna mentally sighed, while also thanking Reborn. Thanks to him, Tsuna had an excuse to play off of that wouldn't cause her to find out about his involvement with the mafia.

"I'm fine thanks to Hibari-san. He saved me before things got too bad." Tsuna gestured towards Hibari who was still sitting on his bed before freezing in shock. _Hibari-san!_ Tsuna had completely forgotten about the prefect up till now. Kusakabe was standing at Hibari's bedside, where the skylark was frowning, but his malicious intent had been somehow subdued. By Kusakabe? When had that happened?

"Ah," Nana stood up and bowed fully to Hibari, "Sorry for my rudeness, Hibari-san. And thank you very much for saving Tsu-kun, I'm very grateful for that."

"Hn." There was a strange feeling behind that 'Hn', but Tsuna couldn't quite place it. Did Hibari actually sound...pleased? "Yes, but you do not have to worry yourself any longer, Sawada-san. I'll making sure that those hooligans won't cause anymore trouble."

"My, what a responsible, young man," Nana grinned and playfully knocked Tsuna on the head, "Now if only Tsuna would take after you and follow your example."

_No, never!_ Tsuna screamed in the depths of his mind. He had a strong urge to correct his mother on what Hibari really was like, but he couldn't do that without angering Hibari so he just kept quiet.

"Well, I'll let you boys get your rest. It must have been a very crazy day," Nana bowed once more to Hibari, "Thank you again, Hibari-san. I'll be depending on you to take care of my Tsu-kun."

"Yes, ma'am," Hibari bowed back slightly. "Kusakabe, if you'd be kind enough to escort her out?"

"Ah, right," Kusakabe walked over to the door and gestured for Nana to follow. Tsuna watched as his mother smiled and waved good-bye to him, before leaving.

Hibari sighed deeply. He'd managed to repress his killing intent long enough the herbivore's mother had been here, but he wasn't expecting that it would visibly drain him to this extent. But what was annoying Hibari was why he'd felt the need to want to impress her in the first place. What benefit did he gain from being on her good side in the first place?

"Hibari! Hibari!" An awfully bright and cheery voiced chirped out his name. Hibari had thought it to be the herbivore, but when the prefect opened his eyes he saw Hibird flying in circles in the air.

Happy that he'd caught his master's attention, Hibird fluttered down and landed on Hibari's shoulder chirping happily when Hibari began stroking him under his beak.

"Where have you been?" Hibari asked slightly pushing down on the little bird's head in a way that was supposed to be punishing. Hibird stared up at his master questioningly. "I thought I'd told you to never fly off on your own."

"Ha, haha." Hibari looked over in surprise at the herbivore who was trying to stifle his chuckles with his fist, but failing.

"What is so funny, Sawada Tsunayoshi? Tell me or I'll bite you to death." Hibari growled. If he dared to laugh at him...

Tsuna instantly sobered, realizing that he was on the verge of being bitten to death. He shook his head frantically. "Ah! I wasn't laughing at you, Hibari-san! Trust me, I wasn't!"

"Then why...?" Hibari trailed off, expecting the herbivore to answer his question quickly.

Instead, Hibari raised an eyebrow in surprise when Tsuna's face immediately turned pink. "I-I just thought you and Hibird looked cute was all."

"Cute?" The prefect questioned. This was certainly a surprise. No one had ever called him cute before.

"Hibird cute! Hibird cute!" Hibird chirped happily, relishing in Tsuna's compliment. Hibari, on the other hand slid off his bed and began walking towards the brunette. Tsuna began panicking as the taller teen seemed to cruise right at him, much like a predator stalking his prey.

"W-Wait!" Tsuna began backing up but yelped when he tumbled off his bed. He groaned but quickly shot up when he saw that Hibari was still coming towards him. The brunette began backing away again, but gasped when his back hit the wall. With nowhere to go, Tsuna screwed his eyes shut and raised his arms defensively. Prepared for the beating that was sure to come. "Please, Hibari-san! I'm sorry!"

Hibari ignored Tsuna's pathetic pleas and instead grabbed the smaller male by his wrists. He brought Tsuna's arms down and maneuvered them so that they were pinned on either side of him.

Tsuna opened his eyes in confusion when he felt himself pinned against the wall and squeaked when he saw that Hibari's face was way too close for comfort. Hibari smirked at Tsuna's obvious distress, and leaned forward so that his mouth was right next to the smaller male's ear.

"Still think I'm 'cute'?"

* * *

Whew! This is the longest chapter I've written yet!

On another note, Hibari knows how to respect his elders!

I know a lot of people don't like OC's, but I kind of need them for this story. I'll try to make the characters interesting so that the story's fun for you all, so please bear with me!

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

All, right. So a lot of people have already heard about the site's removal of stories and Critics United, right?

I had put all the information here but the site won't let me put on the links and they keep getting butchered, so if you're interested I have put the links and full information on my profile.

I will continue to write despite all of these drastic changes and events going on in FF, because honestly...I love writing. I love knowing that people read what I write. Even if the world blows up, I'll still keep writing. So, until one of my stories is deleted or reported for some reason I will continue to write.

On that note, please review! I really love hearing about what you guys think about my story and where I can improve.


	5. Surprise Visit!

Dadadada! Here's the (I hope) long awaited update you guys have been waiting for!

Wow, you guys are just spoiling me with all of these reviews. I'm so happy. Thanks to all of you! Just so everyone knows, school has started up again so updates will be slow. I'm sorry! I have to prioritize school first, especially since I'm in my senior year! Gotta look good for those colleges! ...Yeah, right.

Guest, Lexie-chan94, Max Corvin, pokermaniac039, Final Syai Lunar Generation, yuna, Guest, Raevi, BrokenBlackCat, hammanop, ben4kevin, Xoe-Indigo, shadow visor, YueRyuu

Sorry Guests, I don't know what else to call you _ ' Thing 1 and Thing 2?

* * *

_Tsuna opened his eyes in confusion when he felt himself pinned against the wall and squeaked when he saw that Hibari's face was way too close for comfort. Hibari smirked at Tsuna's obvious distress, and leaned forward so that his mouth was right next to the smaller male's ear._

"_Still think I'm 'cute'?"_

X X X

When Reborn suddenly appeared on the baseball field, Yamamoto thought he was joking around when he said that Tsuna and Gokudera had been attacked, and Tsuna had almost been kidnapped. But when Reborn didn't show any signs of being funny, it was then that ice shot through Yamamoto's veins with the sudden realization that what he was hearing was the truth.

He didn't even realize when he started running of the school grounds and down the street, still in his baseball uniform, pushing past people who only yelled at him in annoyance even though Yamamoto felt it should have been the other way around. They were in _his_ way, and every time he skid to a halt because of someone he felt like screaming. Every person and every thing was an obstacle to him at that moment.

All the while Yamamoto ran and ran, his lungs burning with the continued effort of and his legs growing numb as forced them to continue carrying him towards the hospital. Finally, Yamamoto reached the hospital, and as he burst through the doors he ignored the surprised and annoyed looks he received as he shot towards the front desk, causing the receptionist to recoil from his sudden appearance.

"Ma'am please tell me what rooms Sawada Tsunayoshi and Gokudera Hayato are in!" Yamamoto panted out as he crashed into the counter. A very noticeable frown appeared on the receptionist's face as she recovered from her initial surprise.

"First off, young man, I'm going to have to ask you to step back and calm down. You can't just storm in here like that! Where are your manners!?"

"I'm sorry!" Yamamoto apologized and bowed, although he really didn't feel very sorry. He also hadn't missed how the receptionist moved her hand closer to underneath the counter. Probably to call security in case Yamamoto caused any trouble. "I didn't mean to be so rude. It's just that my friends are hurt and I want to see them as soon as possible, Ma'am. Please understand."

"Humph..." Her frown deepened, deepening the lines in her face as she stared at Yamamoto. Clearly she was not impressed, but the apology seemed to have worked because she spun around in her chair and began typing on her computer. "What are your friends' names again?"

"Um, Sawada Tsunayoshi and Gokudera Hayato," Yamamoto supplied and shifted on his feet anxiously. He wanted to see his friends now!

"Let's see...Sawada, Sawada...Ah! Here we are," she tapped on the screen with her finger. "Well, luckily for you, young man, your friends are in the same room. Room 270 on the second floor-"

"Thank you very much!" Yamamoto shouted as he bolted down the hall towards the elevators, not even waiting to hear what else she had to say. He had gotten what he wanted and now he wasn't going to waste anymore time. He just barely rounded the corner when he noticed that one of the elevator doors was just beginning to close. A silver-haired girl caught his gaze, and Yamamoto was grateful to Kami for giving him this one last chance as he shot down towards the elevator. "Hey, Miss! Please hold the doors open for me!"

Her hand shot out and caught the elevator doors just in time, and as expected the doors slid back open. Yamamoto slowed down as he approached the elevator and smiled sheepishly as he stepped in. "Thanks a lot! You really saved me back there."

"No problem. So, what floor?"

"Huh?" Yamamoto was caught off guard by her question and just stared at her dumbly.

"What floor are you going to?" She tilted her head back towards Yamamoto where he noticed her finger pointing towards the buttons on the elevator wall. "Obviously you should know what floor you need to go to since you decided to use the elevator."

"Haha, I guess you have a point there," Yamamoto scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I'm going to the second floor."

"Ah! What a coincidence!" She smiled softly as she withdrew her hand and swung both arms behind her back, "I'm going to the second floor, too!"

"It really is a small world, after all, isn't it?" Yamamoto joked, causing her to giggle.

"Yep..." An awkward silence filled the elevator shaft as neither side said anything else to further the conversation.

Yamamoto sighed and listened to the whirring of the elevator. He couldn't help but think that taking the stairs could have been faster. Sighing, he glanced back at the girl and was startled to see her green eyes staring at him and with her lips pursed in thought. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the elevator slowing to a stop and the doors sliding open.

"Oh." She skipped out the elevator with Yamamoto following just behind. Then she spun around on her heels and smiled widely. "Well. Bye-bye. It was very nice meeting you, Yamamoto Takeshi." And with that, she spun around once more and skipped down the hall, humming a tune that Yamamoto didn't recognize.

"Bye?" Yamamoto waved to her back absentmindedly and then froze as he realized something. How had that girl known his name? His mind raced back to when he got onto the elevator and specifically remembered never having mentioned his name to her at all. "Wait-"

But she was gone. Yamamoto frowned and scratched at his head in confusion. He shrugged it off, deeming it as unimportant and turned down the hallway hoping that it was the right way to get to Tsuna and Gokudera's room.

X X X

Tsuna was in a very tricky situation. Yep. First off, he just _had_ to somehow get himself involved with Hibari Kyoya, and to make it worse he had pissed him off by calling him cute. Cute of all things! Tsuna surprised even himself as to how much of an idiot he could be sometimes.

So, when Hibari had cornered Tsuna up against the wall he had been bracing himself for the beating of the lifetime. He'd been expecting a punch in the gut, maybe a slash to the head, the usual. But he would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised when Hibari pinned him to the wall and whispered into his ear, blowing hot air into it while smirking only the way Hibari could.

"W-What?" Tsuna felt a furious blush burning on his cheeks as Hibari slightly pulled away and straightened himself, amusement dancing behind his silver eyes.

"I asked," Hibari tilted his head and his smirk only seemed to intensify, "if you still think I'm cute?"

"Cute? Did I say cute!?" Tsuna laughed nervously, waving his hands frantically, and averted his gaze as Hibari narrowed his eyes. "What I really meant was c-chute, yeah! Chute! We really need to go check out the laundry chute and see if it's working because it would be really bad for us if we couldn't put our dirty laundry down there and it would just start stinking after a while and then it would just be plain horrible to stay here and-"

"Quiet."

Tsuna stopped breathing when Hibari pressed a tonfa against his neck, the cold metal digging into his skin. _Where the hell does he keep those damn things!? _Tsuna thought bitterly as he remembered that Hibari was wearing nothing but his hospital scrubs.

"It would be in your best interest if you did not continue lying to me, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari warned and pushed the tonfa deeper into his skin. Tsuna choked slightly and suddenly had the overwhelming urge to fight back, but he knew that Hibari could easily overwhelm him considering the situation, and all that he would accomplish was getting a black eye and multiple bruises.

Suddenly, Hibari's head swiveled towards the door and Tsuna followed his gaze in time to see a shadow quickly move away. Hibari's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he released Tsuna while bringing up his tonfas, already ready for use.

He glanced back at Tsuna. "Stay here, and _don't _move or I'll bite you to death," Hibari threatened and just like that he was gone and out the door following after whatever had been there. Tsuna's knees buckled from under him and he sank to the floor, holding his head in his hands.

_What was that all about!?_ No matter how much time Tsuna spent with the prefect he found that he just could never figure him out. But that was besides the point at the moment...that shadow. Tsuna hoped that whatever, or whomever it was was just an innocent bystander and Hibari wouldn't bite them to death too severely. And if they were involved with his kidnappers from earlier, he just hoped Hibari would be okay. Hibari was strong. So he didn't have much to worry about...right?

Tsuna tugged at his hair and groaned out of frustration. He didn't want to just sit there and do nothing!

Suddenly, the door slid open. Tsuna glanced over the edge of the bed since it was blocking his view and felt his breath catch at who it was.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna jumped to his feet, happy that he was finally seeing his friend. The taller teen finally noticed the brunette and darted over to his side. Tsuna blinked in surprise when Yamamoto pushed him towards the bed and sat him down.

"Tsuna!" He looked down at the brunette with worry, "Reborn told me what happened. You all right?"

_Reborn did?_ "Yeah, I'm all right. It was just a big scare was all," Tsuna chuckled wryly and scratched at his cheek sheepishly. Yamamoto's eyes widened in alarm.

"Tsuna! Your hand!" Yamamoto grabbed Tsuna's right hand and brought it up to his face for a closer look. Then he glanced at Tsuna's mouth and his eyes widened even further. "And your mouth! How did you get so burned?"

"Oh...that?" Tsuna pulled his hand away and fingered at the edges of his burns which now only throbbed numbly. "It was from the fight. It's no biggie, really. They don't even hurt anymore." Tsuna tried to smile reassuringly but failed when he saw the pained look on Yamamoto's face.

Yamamoto opened his mouth to say something, but whatever he was trying to say got caught in his throat and he only looked away as he clenched his fists at his sides. Finally, the taller teen let out a heavy sigh and scrunched his eyes shut as he took a seat next to Tsuna on the bed.

"I just-" he took a shaky breath but managed to keep his voice steady enough to continue. "I just wish that I had been there to help you two. Gokudera and you got hurt so badly, and he just completely shut me out when I went to see him, and-"

"Whoa, wait! What do you mean he shut you out?" Tsuna knit his brows together in confusion upon hearing this.

Yamamoto stared at the ground, his face still pinched together in pain. "He just didn't talk to me at all whenever I tried asking him something, and even when I did get a response he was so angry. I've _never_ seen him act like that. I had the hardest time trying to find you because he just wouldn't tell me where you went."

"Really?" Tsuna chewed on his bottom lip with worry. He suddenly wanted to go down and see Gokudera and see why he was acting so strange. Gokudera had always been a little resentful towards Yamamoto, but the way he put it made it seem like Gokudera wasn't as fine as he thought he was.

"Yeah. But then imagine my surprise when I find out you're bunking with Hibari instead! Why did you move in with him anyways?"

There was a hint of resentment that Tsuna thought he heard in Yamamoto's words, which caught him by surprise. The brunette sighed and began picking at the hem of his shirt, "Hibari-san thinks that by sticking with me he'll be able to fight against my kidnappers again. So that's why he moved me into this room with him, although he left chasing after someone who was watching us."

"Oh, is that what he was doing?" Yamamoto rubbed his chin in thought. "I saw him running down the hall but I didn't see anyone else. Hopefully they don't get away. It'll be nice to know who we're going to be fighting against."

"Y-Yeah, sure..." Tsuna forced on what he hoped was a cheerful grin, but inside he was screaming in frustration. He didn't want to deal with any of this! He didn't want anyone getting hurt because of him!

The door slid open, and Hibari walked in, a dangerous scowl on his face. It only seemed to deepen when he caught sight of Yamamoto sitting besides Tsuna.

"H-Hibari-san!" Tsuna jumped up and made to move towards the prefect but froze at the icy glare Hibari shot at him. "I-Is everything all right? Did you find out who it was?"

"No."

Tsuna shared a look with Yamamoto as they waited for Hibari to elaborate more, but when he didn't the brunette pressed him for more details. "No to not being all right, or no to not finding out who it was?"

Hibari let out an annoyed grunt and glared at Yamamoto, ignoring Tsuna's question. The baseball player flinched at the sudden murderous intent directed at him. "Yamamoto Takeshi. I don't remember giving you permission to come into _my_ room."

"Hah?" Yamamoto stood up from surprise as Hibari continued keeping his death glare on him. But he wasn't going to just leave after he finally got to see Tsuna, "But I didn't think that I ever needed _your_ permission to see Tsuna."

_Uh oh... _Tsuna glanced nervously between the two teens, the tension building as the glare contest continued. Why Yamamoto was being so unusually serious today, Tsuna didn't know, but what he did know was that a fight would eventually break out soon if he didn't step in.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna moved over to his friend's side and tugged on his arm, pulling him towards the door. "I think you should go home before your dad gets too worried."

"But-" Yamamoto glanced down at the brunette hesitantly. He didn't want to leave Tsuna alone, especially not with with someone like Hibari.

"I'll be fine," Tsuna reassured him, "I'll see you at school tomorrow, so don't worry, all right?"

"Fine. See you tomorrow, then, Tsuna."

Tsuna slid the door shut behind the taller teen and let out a heavy sigh as he turned to face Hibari, who, as the brunette had been expecting, was glaring at him murderously.

"Your friends need to learn some respect, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari sneered as he crossed his arms together.

_So do you, brat!_ Tsuna thought, but he knew better than to actually say that out loud. So he just opted for apologizing. "S-Sorry. But Yamamoto was only worried about me."

"Your friends worry about you is to the point of it almost being an obsession," Hibari stated, smirking slightly at the look of shock it elicited from the brunette. "Besides, their main worry should be how to better use their abilities to find those who would do you harm in the first place."

"...Meaning you weren't able to catch whoever it was?" Tsuna guessed. The prefect's face contorted with anger and he growled in frustration as he punched the wall. "Oh."

"Whoever these herbivores are..." Tsuna felt his blood run cold at the murderous sneer on the prefect's face. "I will enjoy biting them to death."

X X X

The girl sighed as she settled into her apartment, throwing her bag onto the couch and sitting down beside it. She was glad that she had been able to keep the Vongola cloud guardian from seeing her, but it hadn't been easy. The air ducts in the hospital had just barely been large enough for her to fit into, but now her back was killing her. Lesson learned, never throw yourself headfirst into an air duct. Besides, no one seems to bother cleaning them out anyways...too dusty.

She began chewing on her thumb nail out of habit as she got thinking about Hibari Kyoya. The cloud guardian was going to be a bigger problem than she had originally thought he would be. He was definitely more formidable than he seemed to be. She had completely erased her presence at the hospital, but he had somehow still managed to detect her. At this rate she wouldn't be able to just get rid of him like she had previously been planning.

Either way, those were things she could worry about later. For now she just needed to regroup with her boss and see what he wanted to do.

Right on cue her phone began ringing from within her pocket, and she leaned back so she could pull it out.

"Hello?"

"How's my favorite little spy holding up in the boonies?" Russo's voice was playful, but it still rang with an air of authority that had her think twice before laughing.

"Fine, Boss. I've managed to keep myself out of the Vongola's radar so far, but...I had a close encounter with their cloud guardian, though. He's more trouble than we thought he'd be," she said with a twinge of resentment which didn't go unnoticed by Russo.

"He's become that much of an obstacle, huh?" His end of the line became silent as he thought pensively about what she said.

She felt herself becoming slightly unnerved at the outstretched silence and couldn't help but speak up, "Boss?"

"I've got it!" She flinched away from her phone as his voice threatened to burst her eardrum, but she switched the phone to her other ear and rubbed her sore one with her free hand.

"You've got what, Boss?"

"Why, the solution to our problems, Mia! If we can't bring him ourselves, then why fight it when we can have them deliver him to our front door!"

X X X

The rest of the day had been very stressful, and it only worsened by sharing a room with Hibari who constantly terrorized Tsuna whenever a noise woke him up in the middle of the night. Even though none of the noises were Tsuna's fault, Hibari wouldn't listen and now Tsuna was sporting a whole new batch of bruises on his chest and back, courtesy of Hibari's tonfas.

The doctor, on the other hand, had told Tsuna that after a night of rest, which he didn't get, he was free to go home and get on with his life. He had been given an ointment to treat his burns and advice which had been something along the lines of 'Just put it on and deal with it'. Very helpful.

Either way, Tsuna was starting to hate hospitals.

By the time the sun rose, Tsuna was exhausted, sore and utterly traumatized, whereas Hibari was fully rested. Hibari dismissed Tsuna's exhaustion as laziness and forced him to go to school, since obviously missing a day of school was not in the prefect's vocabulary. Tsuna was just glad that Kusakabe had been kind enough to prepare him a fresh uniform, since his old one had gotten trashed during the fight, and recollected his bag. He actually started crying because he was so touched by Kusakabe's kindness.

Thankfully, the day passed by uneventfully, not including Yamamoto's constant presence and paranoia over every little thing that Tsuna did. He was still afraid that Tsuna's kidnappers were going to try something, and while Tsuna appreciated his concern, having the baseball player hovering over him the whole day grew to be annoying.

When the bell rang signaling the end of the day, Tsuna had to do some heavy persuading to convince Yamamoto that he was perfectly capable of meeting up with Hibari, as he so painfully made clear the day before. Obviously Hibari wanted to be with him every step of the way, just in case he was suddenly attacked again. And that included going with him to his house.

Tsuna said goodbye to Yamamoto who was still a little hesitant to leave the brunette alone, but after some more persuasion he finally convinced Yamamoto to go to baseball practice. Yamamoto didn't need to worry about him, and if he could have fun instead then it would be better for him to go play some baseball and just get his mind off of all of these troubling events. Tsuna just only wished it could be that easy for him, too.

Sighing, Tsuna rounded the corner and then felt the world tip over as he felt something crash into him and he connected with the ground. Whoever he crashed into kya-ed out of surprise, and suddenly Tsuna felt a heavy weight pressing against his stomach.

Groaning, Tsuna opened his eyes to see papers floating around everywhere and a silver-haired girl sitting right on top of him. He immediately felt himself flush when he noticed their positions and tried to avert his eyes and oncoming nosebleed when he caught a glimpse of what was under her skirt.

The girl groaned as well, and straightened up while holding her head with one hand. Then, she seemed to realize her position and, face flushing, squealed out of embarrassment while slapping Tsuna across the face simultaneously.

"Ow!" Tsuna grabbed at his bruising cheek and stared incredulously as the girl rolled off of him and began apologizing profusely. It was like watching a female version of Gokudera in the making. And he wasn't joking. If Gokudera was a girl he'd look exactly like her with her silver hair and green eyes. It was so strange looking at her.

"I'm so, so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and then I just panicked and hit you instinctively! I'm really sorry!" She said in between bowing repeatedly.

"D-Don't worry about it! Really!" Tsuna put his hands up in a placating gesture in what he hoped would calm her down. The students that were still hanging around in the halls were starting to give them strange looks. "I should have been paying attention, too. I'm at fault as well."

"All right..." she straightened herself, but still looked very embarrassed and apologetic about the earlier events. Then she put her hands to her cheeks as she moaned in dread as she took in the mess of papers scattered all across the floor. "Oh no, Sensei's going to be so angry with me..."

"Hey, don't worry. I'll help," Tsuna offered and grinned, whereas she only looked at him in surprise.

"Eh? You don't have to. It was all my fault anyways..." She stared down at her feet and frowned, her bottom lip jutting out slightly.

"Stop saying that!" Tsuna frowned then to prove his point he bent down and began collecting the papers into a pile. "Like I said, it's my fault, too. Besides, it'll go faster if the two of us work together."

"...Thank you," she bent down and began collecting up papers together as well. Then she blinked when she realized something, "Er, sorry, what's your name?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you..."

"Ah! I'm M-"

"Herbivores." The icy voice interrupted whatever she was about to say, and the two teens turned slowly to face the owner of the voice.

"H-Hibari-san," Tsuna blanched and felt himself break out into a cold sweat. He had forgotten that he had been on his way to see the prefect, but crashing into the girl had distracted him. The prefect must have gotten tired of waiting for him and come to look. _Well, he found me!_ Tsuna thought bitterly.

"Hibari-san!?" The silver-haired girl squeaked fearfully, and with due reason. Hibari's glare was enough to make anyone wet themselves. That was when Tsuna noticed that the hall became eerily quiet, and with a cursory glance he realized that all of the students that had been there before were now gone, having fled due to Hibari's presence.

"Crowding in the halls, causing a disturbance, disrespecting appointments. I'll bite you to death," Hibari drew out his tonfas and stalked towards the two teens who were still squatting defenseless amongst the pile of papers.

"W-Wait, Hibari-san!" Tsuna stood up and blocked his path, not wanting the silver-haired girl to be caught in his wrath. At least Tsuna was used to it by now. "I'm sorry I was late, but I was helping her pick up her papers since I crashed into her!

"Is that so..." Hibari stopped in his advance, but Tsuna knew it was only a matter of time before the prefect remembered to bite them to death.

"Yes! Sawada-san is right! Although I'm the one who crashed into him," she hastily picked up the rest of the papers and hopped over to Tsuna's side, taking the papers he was holding. " But I'll just be on my way. Sorry to keep you from your appointment, Sawada-san!"

"Bye,-" the brunette realized that he had never gotten her name but she was gone by the time came. He turned and frowned when he saw the prefect looking peeved. Tsuna chewed on the inside of his cheek as he sent an annoyed look at the taller teen. "You could have just waited."

"You were taking too long, and besides," Hibari leaned towards Tsuna but the brunette stood his ground, not wanting to allow himself to be intimidated by the prefect. "What if you were being attacked by those herbivores from earlier. It would've been a waste to pass up an opportunity to fight them again."

Tsuna just kept silent, not wanting to stir up any further anger in the prefect and trying to keep his own anger in check. He was getting a little tired of Hibari showing up from nowhere and scaring away anyone he was trying to talk to. Hibari grunted in amusement at Tsuna's sudden display of bravery, then turned and began walking down the hall.

"Come, herbivore. We're taking my car."

"Your ca- Oh, right." Tsuna immediately remembered the small, black car that Kusakabe had been driving when he took them to the hospital. He was still curious as to how Hibari could have gotten his hands on something like that, but felt like that was something that was best left unsaid.

X X X

It turned out that Kusakabe was the driver once again, and after exchanging a quick greeting they were on their way. It really is a different change of atmosphere not having to walk home, Tsuna mused. The usual fifteen minute walk was cut down to a mere five minutes by driving, which Tsuna was also thankful for since the cabin was filled with nothing but awkward silence as no one had anything to say.

When they finally arrived, Tsuna was surprised to see his mom, Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta leaving the house. Jumping out the car, he headed over to his mom.

"Mom! Where are you all going?" Tsuna asked.

"Oh, Tsu-kun, you're home! Congratulations on leaving the hospital! I'd left a note for you on the fridge, but you can ignore that now. We were all going to the store to buy meat to make hamburgers. We'll be back soon- Oh!" Nana glanced behind Tsuna in surprise. "Is your friend going to be staying for dinner? If so, I think I have just enough money to buy extra meat."

"Friend?" Tsuna turned to see Hibari standing at the gate, his arms crossed leisurely. "Oh, you mean Hibari-san."

"That won't be necessary, Sawada-san," Hibari answered for Tsuna about the hamburgers. "He and I will be leaving for my house soon, so you don't need to trouble yourself.

"He's going with you?" Nana sent a quizzical look at Hibari who nodded.

"Yes. For a few days, actually. We're going to be doing a psychology experiment, and we decided that it would be best to do it at my house since it's less crowded and the possibility of error will be lessened in a quieter environment." He glanced briefly at Lambo and I-Pin who were chasing each other around the yard. Nana followed his gaze and covered her mouth as she understood what he was implying.

"Oh. All right then. I'll leave Tsu-kun in your care then, Hibari-kun. Bye-bye, Tsu-kun! Don't forget to lock the door when you leave and be a kind guest to Hibari-kun!" Nana waved good-bye as she began walking down the street, Lambo and I-Pin following while squealing with laughter.

"Bye, Tsuna-nii!" Fuuta waved good-bye as well as he followed after.

"Okay, bye, Mom! Bye Fuuta!" Tsuna reciprocated the wave and then turned to face Hibari, a somewhat amused expression on his face. "Since when are you one to beat around the bush?"

"Ever since telling your mother of events that you normally don't tell her about would cause her great distress and disturb the peace," Hibari coolly replied, and cocked his head as he watched Tsuna's amusement deflate.

"Oh. Yeah...there's always that," Tsuna grimaced, and was slightly surprised that Hibari knew of how they normally dealt with his mother. The brunette sighed gloomily and began heading towards the front door, Hibari following closely behind.

"Where are you going?"

"Upstairs, obviously," Hibari stopped midway and turned back to face Tsuna who was still struggling to take off his right shoe. "I suggest you come up as well and start packing. Your herbivorous house is...making me nauseous." He said this while looking at a picture of Tsuna as a child and dressed in a bunny suit.

"Hey! Well _sorry_ it's not to your liking!" Tsuna shouted, blushing when he realized what Hibari had been looking at. The prefect just smirked and continued upstairs, eventually disappearing over the railing. "Jeez..." Hibari really knew how to make someone feel embarrassed, Tsuna realized with annoyance.

Suddenly, the door opened and Tsuna's mom rushed in, shutting the door with her back. Tsuna startled with her sudden appearance. Nana sighed heavily and sagged against the door, using her hand to brush away some stray hair that had fallen into her face. When she met Tsuna's gaze she froze, eyes wide and her hand still combed into her hair.

"Mom?" Tsuna took a step towards her and frowned worriedly when she suddenly bolted off the door and towards the mirror that hung on the wall in the entry. She stared at herself and then slowly put a hand to her cheek as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Are- Is everything okay? What happened to Lambo and the others?"

"Oh, they're...fine," Nana turned to face Tsuna, then grinned sheepishly as she knocked herself on the head lightly. "I just forgot my wallet is all. I can be so forgetful sometimes."

"All right, I thought...Well, it really doesn't matter what I thought. So long as everything's okay." Tsuna shrugged and smiled wryly. For a second he had been scared that something, or _someone_ had attacked them. He glanced at his mother's face and was still worried since there was a slight paleness that hadn't been there before.

Suddenly, Nana moved towards Tsuna and stopped just in front of him. She stared down at him, an unreadable expression on her face. Tsuna frowned and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but was cut off when Nana grabbed his face, her hands cupping his cheeks. Tsuna flinched at how _cold_ her hands were but didn't make any attempt to move away.

Then, in a voice that was hers yet wasn't, she said, "How long will it be until you finally go to Italy, Tsunayoshi?"

Ice filled Tsuna's veins and he stopped breathing. What she said, did she...did she know about the mafia!? But how!? Even his no-good-father Iemitsu had been able to keep all of that a secret from her for who knows how long. Had he said or done something to give it away? But what? She hadn't been there when he had almost been kidnapped, and he was sure Reborn (wherever he was) had already come up with some excuse for his condition. So why? Why was she bringing up Italy?

"W-What do you mean, Mom? Italy? W-Why would I be going to I-Italy?" Best to play innocent until the last moment, Tsuna decided. Just in case it was totally unrelated to the mafia. But before she could answer there was the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs.

Nana immediately let go of Tsuna and dashed towards the door. "Haha, silly me. Turns out I had my wallet all along. All right then, I'll see you later, Tsunayoshi!"

"See you?" Tsuna stared at the door dumbfounded as he replayed the events in his head. His mom had definitely been acting very strange. Stranger than usual, anyways. He just hoped that she had been talking about something completely different than what he was thinking about.

"Hurry up, Herbivore, or I'll bite you to death," Hibari threatened along with a flash of his tonfas. Tsuna squeaked and made a mad dash for his room before Hibari could do anything. However, when Tsuna threw open the door he froze in shock at what he saw before him. There were several members of the Disciplinary Committee tearing through his room. Some of them were throwing his clothes into boxes while a couple seem to have decided to pass the time playing some of his video games. He finally felt a vein pop when he saw that one of them was reclining on his bed while reading through one of his manga which was _supposed_ to have been hidden under his bed since his mom thought they were distractions and always took them away.

He marched over to his bed and snatched the manga out of the delinquent's hand then quickly moved to unplug the TV. The two members groaned as the TV darkened. Tsuna could sympathize, remembering how Reborn did that to him on a regular basis, but this was a whole different matter. He put his hands on his hips and glared at everyone as he finally got their attention. "What do you all think you're doing!? You can't just go through my things like this! It's an invasion of privacy and...how did you all even get in here!?"

"_I_ let them in here, Herbivore." Tsuna turned around to see Hibari casually leaning against the door-frame. He yawned then regarded Tsuna coolly before continuing. "Seeing as how you decided not to come up and pack your things I called them over to get it done. Although, what I wasn't expecting for them to slack off and deviate from what I called them here for." Hibari's eyes trailed to the right and when Tsuna followed his gaze he was surprised to see all of the members lined up in a row. When had _that_ happened? All of the members then began sweating nervously as Hibari kept glaring at them. Tsuna almost felt bad for them. Almost. But they deserved it for messing with his things.

"Hn. Just get out of my sight. I'll call you all when I need you next," Hibari waved his hand dismissively and all of the members immediately jumped out of the open window. Tsuna just watched dumbfounded as the last person, who just so happened to be his manga thief, dived headfirst as though he were diving into a pool. Tsuna wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel happy that they were finally gone, or scared now that he was all alone with Hibari again.

Swallowing thickly, he turned to face the prefect and was startled to see that he was staring at him. His gray eyes unblinking.

"Haha...nice weather we're having, right?"

"Finish packing or I'll bite you to death."

* * *

You know what was pretty funny? Okay, spoilers for those that haven't read the manga. I was reading the part in the manga where Hibari and Adelheid begin fighting (I'm not a procrastinator I swear!), when in my Itunes playlist _I Need a Hero_ by Bonnie Tyler started playing. Ironic much? I just feel like there are hints of 1827 implied in those parts. Of course Hibari would come to cheer up our little Tsuna!

For those of you following my other stories I need to apologize as well. I've decided to just focus on one story at a time since trying to work on all of them as well as school work is just too demanding. I might have some time to work on them, but it was bad judgment on my part to start all of them at the same time, so I'll be applying this approach from now on.

On that note, I've made an outline for this story and as such I have the next couple chapters already planned out so it should be much easier for me to get future chapters out...hopefully.

But I talk/write too much! Reviews are nice! And criticism is always welcomed as long as it's nice!


	6. Cheer Up, Gokudera!

Okay, I know I haven't been very good at updating and I don't want to use the same excuses I've been using, but unfortunately the same things are keeping me from working on this. Sorry guys, I don't mean to do this to you all.

Thanks to these people for their reviews!

They Who Are Unlove-Neglected, BrokenBlackCat, ben4kevin, Final Syai Lunar Generation, hammanop, suzuiku9, hahaitshappy, the Black and White Soul, and Yuukilover.

* * *

_Swallowing thickly, he turned to face the prefect and was startled to see that he was staring at him. His gray eyes unblinking. _

"_Haha...nice weather we're having, right?"_

"_Finish packing or I'll bite you to death."_

X X X

Joel frowned and crossed his arms as he reclined at his seat, once again glancing at his watch, watching the second hand tick its way around. He pursed his lips and then looked over at Lilian, who was sitting at her own across from him, busy doing something on her smart-phone. But by the sounds coming from it it sounded like she was just playing a game to pass the time. She was so addicted to that thing, he thought grinning slightly. Then he looked over at his boss, who was scowling down at some papers he had laying on his desk. His eyes would scan over the words then would very noticeably narrow in annoyance when he came to certain parts.

The conference room itself was a fairly large space, with the table stretching from one end to the other and many chairs loitering the area in between. Russo, Lilian and himself were the only ones in the room at the moment but he knew it was only a matter of time before some of the seats filled with those who were all probably on their way. As though through some sign, there was a knock on the door and it creaked open as a head peeked in. Joel recognized the man as one of the newer members. Ricky was his name, he believed.

"Boss, they're here."

Russo perked up at the news and nodded. "Send them in." Ricky nodded and bowed out, leaving the door open. There was the sound of multiple footfalls echoing against the ground and then a man entered, his suit sleek and crisp. His thinning hair was combed over the missing patch on the crown of his head, but despite his age catching up to him his gray eyes were full of knowledge and power. He was then followed by another man and eventually a woman, both dressed in a similar fashion. The other man was much younger, his blonde hair shaved in a buzz-cut. His steely, brown gaze settled onto Russo, then Joel before finally settling on Lilian and staying there. The woman hid a yawn behind her hand, a strand of her dark hair falling into her face before dropping it back down to her side. Her eyes were half-lidded, giving one barely any chance to see the intense, electric-blue hiding behind.

"My friends...Carlo, Renzo, Natale. Please, take a seat." Russo stood up and smiled as they entered, and then sat back down alongside them, his chair scraping the ground. "I'm so very happy that all of you could make it under such short notice. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have done so, but as you can probably guess, desperate times call for desperate measures." The three newcomers nodded in understanding, but didn't say anything as Russo continued speaking. "The mission to capture the Vongola Decimo ended up as a failure due to my incompetence in choosing adequate members for the task. Now the Vongola are on high alert and it will be more difficult than ever to get to him...This is what I would have said, but my spies, both in Vongola and in Japan have informed me that Vongola Nono hasn't mobilized as many people as we had predicted would go to Japan, and they're still unprotected. But they're not in Namimori itself and are only guarding from the outskirts of the town. So far, the only real protection for the Decimo is in the form of his guardians, and the Arcobaleno Reborn."

"So then, what are you proposing, Adone? I don't see where you're trying to go with this," Carlo rasped. He clasped his vein-streaked hands on the table. "So what if the Vongola aren't directly in Namimori? All it takes is for them to catch wind of one of our people there and they'll swarm in like moths to a flame. Vongola Nono is well known for his ability to strategize and plan. I don't believe for a second that he doesn't have some sort of safety measure in place guarding the Decimo."

"I agree with Carlo, Russo. We cannot just-" Natale yawned deeply into her hand before continuing, "rush into these things. Especially when dealing with the Vongola. You know how tricky they can be."

Joel narrowed his eyes at the table in thought, taking in their words. Russo hadn't told neither him nor Lilian what this plan would be so he was just in the dark of it as the others. The only insight he had on it was that it would be fool-proof and it would definitely yield them the expected results.

"Patience, my friends. That was what I was getting to." Russo rubbed his chin, "I realize that the Vongola aren't to be taken lightly. But with the way things are going at the moment, it will become very difficult to bring the Decimo here directly from Japan. But I've devised a plan that will be sure to get us what we want, although it'll take longer than we had originally planned."

"And what is this plan?" Carlo asked, leaning forward eager to hear it.

Russo smirked, his eyes gleaming, "We won't bring the young Vongola, we'll wait for him to come to us."

"And how do you expect to do that?" Renzo questioned, his eyes probing Russo's for the answers they were holding.

"Simple," Russo clenched his hand into a fist and brought it close to his chest. A cruel smirk weaving its way onto his lips. "We make them go through hell."

X X X

The green that trails Namimori

Not large not small, Nami is best

Always unchanging

Vigorous and gallant...

Let's sing together

Namimori middle school!

Tsuna's eyes fluttered open as the tune reached his ears, slowly drawing him away from the lull of his sleep. He yawned and rubbed his face against his pillow, not really wanting to get up quite yet. Although, where had he heard that tune before? It sounded so familiar...but in his haze it was taking him longer to place it. And it didn't seem too important when the warmth of the bed seemed to invite him back to deep slumber.

Shining like the morning dew, the Namimori School

Ordinary and usual, Nami is best

Always fighting

Vigorous and gallant

Let's smile together

Namimori middle school

Oh. Now he remembered. It was that silly school anthem that Hibird always sang. But why was Hibird singing that now? As a matter of fact, why was he hearing Hibird in the first place? Gasping, Tsuna shot up, his sheets flying off and the cold immediately assaulting his bare arms and face robbing him of his warmth. Then he scrambled around the nightstand for the clock he swore he had seen the night before. Finally, he found it on the single desk in the room, under his school uniform jacket that he must have absentmindedly thrown when he had first entered. It was 7:50. He let out a breath of relief and fell back on the bed wondering why Hibird had woken him up so early in the morning. But then the brunette finally seemed to remember that he wasn't at his house. He scanned the room, taking in the still unfamiliar layout and then froze when he felt something land on his head. "Late! Late! Bite to death!" Hibird chirped, seemingly amused as it flapped its wings against Tsuna's head.

"Ugh! Hibird!" Tsuna beat at the little bird with his hands, but it flew away and instead roosted on top of the dresser. Caramel eyes glared accusingly at the ball of feathers."What was that for?"

"Late! Late!" Hibird chirped accusingly.

"Late? What would I be late for..." Tsuna paled and then glanced back at the clock. 7:52. There was only one thing that he could be late for, and if that clock was correct he had only eight minutes to get ready and then get to school. He gasped and shot to his feet, tugging at his hair when he suddenly remembered something else of equal importance. Hibari! And the prefect was especially strict about being prompt. Moaning in dread Tsuna immediately exchanged his pajamas for his school uniform, slung his bag over his shoulder, dashed out of the room, and slid to a stop in front of the stairs.

"Wah!" He had only taken a step when the brunette tripped on the leg of his pants and tumbled head over heels down the stairs, crying out with pain with each step he hit. Groaning, he landed in a tangled heap at the bottom of the stairs and slowly disentangled himself while rubbing his throbbing head. "Ow..."

"Herbivore."

"Wah! Don't bite me to death, Hibari-san! Please! Look! I'm ready for school!" Tsuna shot upright while also trying to straighten his clothes which were disheveled all over. But then he realized he'd forgotten to pick up his bag which had fallen out of his hand during his fall. He bent down to get it and froze when, too late, he realized that he'd accidentally picked it up from the bottom and all of his things spilled out all over the ground.

Tsuna swore he felt his heart give out as he instantly dropped to his knees, scrambling to recollect his things. How embarrassing! Then he looked up in time to see a strange look pass over Hibari's face. However, the prefect covered his mouth with his hand and turned to walk away, his shoulders trembling slightly.

"H-Hibari-san!?" Tsuna panicked slightly at Hibari's strange behavior. Was he trembling out of anger at Tsuna's tardiness in waking up? Was he trying to restrain himself from biting Tsuna to death? It was probably not a very good idea if this was indeed the case, but something made Tsuna follow after the prefect.

Suddenly, Hibari turned to face the brunette. Tsuna flinched and covered his face but the blow that he was expecting never came. Peeking through his fingers he felt his jaw drop in surprise at the smile on Hibari's face.

"You know...you're really something, Herbivore. Getting all flustered about being late for school on a Saturday morning. Haha. If that's how you usually act in the mornings then I feel bad for your mother." Tsuna was struck speechless before feeling his face flush red with embarrassment. This just seemed to amuse the prefect more because his smile widened. The brunette just stayed silent though, not really sure what to say. Compared to the usual sneer or smirk that Hibari usually wore this smile seemed like Tsuna was finally getting a chance to see part of his cloud guardian's true side. The side that he probably always tried so hard to hide.

Then Tsuna noticed that the prefect wasn't even dressed in his school uniform. He was wearing a simple, navy colored t-shirt, and black sweats which hung loosely from his hips. Compared to the strictly neat and orderly look that Hibari seemed to always have this seemingly sudden change in appearance was different. But by now, Tsuna was starting to become numb to any new surprises that were being thrown at him.

Hibari took in a deep breath and sighed, and then side-glanced at Tsuna while going to lean on the wall. He looked like he was about to burst out into laughter at any moment. Tsuna pouted and crossed his arms, glaring softly at the prefect but it became slightly difficult as a smile found its way on his lips.

"It wasn't _that_ funny, Hibari-san," he quipped.

Hibari pressed a fist to his mouth, and waited a few seconds before replying. "I suppose not...I don't even know why I found this so amusing. Strange."

"Strange?" Tsuna questioned, blinking in surprise. He found it strange that Hibari thought this whole thing was strange, if that made any sense. But instead of replying, Hibari just pushed off of the wall and made his way down the hall and towards the other room. Tsuna stood there awkwardly before following after not really sure how to respond to the awkwardness in the air after Hibari's statement.

But then the prefect stopped and turned his head back to see the brunette. "Herbivore...what made you think that you had school today?"

The Vongola Tenth boss stopped in his tracks and found himself blushing, "H-Hibird woke me up. Then he said I was late and you were going to bite me to death and-"

"Hibari! Hibari!" Tsuna was cut off by Hibird's cheerful cries as the little fluff-ball flew over the railing and landed on his owner's head, nestling into Hibari's dark locks. Hibari reached up and plucked the little bird from right on top of his head and held him so that he was sitting on his open palm.

"Causing trouble so early in the morning, Herbivore?" Hibird just stared up at Hibari, tilting its head questioningly before turning to look at Tsuna and chirping, "Late! Late!"

"See?" The brunette pointed at the little fluff-ball accusingly. "He keeps saying I'm late, but I don't know why!"

Laughter echoed from the hall leading to the front door and then suddenly Kusakabe appeared, a wide grin on his face. He paused in the entryway and bowed in greeting, "Good morning, Kyo-san. Sawada-san. Sorry for intruding, but you _did_ say that I could let myself in." He glanced at Hibari, but the prefect didn't reply. Hibari only raised his chin, acknowledging his meaning. Kusakabe nodded understandingly and then turned towards Tsuna, a small smile on his lips. "You know, Sawada-san, I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying about Hibird."

"Huh?" Tsuna was slightly startled at being addressed but Kusakabe either didn't notice this or decided to ignore his surprise as he continued speaking.

"If you want to know why Hibird keeps accusing you for being late it's because one of the rules of this household is to wait until everyone is awake and present before serving food. So I guess the little guy is probably starving right now. Isn't that right?"

"Hungry! Late!" Hibird hopped in Hibari's hand, apparently happy that someone finally got the message. "Hungry!"

Tsuna stared at the little bird in disbelief, "So that's why?" But then his gaze shifted to Hibari, "Hibari-san! You could have eaten without me, I wouldn't have minded." The prefect ignored the brunette and instead began walking towards the kitchen, Hibird now having perched on his shoulder. The little bird chirped happily, excited that he was finally going to be fed. Kusakabe grinned bemusedly at the incredulous look on the brunette's face at having just been blown off.

"So," Kusakabe began conversationally, crossing his arms. "How have you been, Sawada-san? Getting along all right?" Tsuna snorted, crossing his arms as well.

"Yeah, right." He leaned closer to the older male and spoke in a low voice, "It hasn't even been a full day, but I'm already getting sick of this place-" Something whizzed past his throat, barely grazing his skin. It was soon followed by a dull thump as whatever it was embedded itself into the wall to his right. Tsuna slowly turned to look at it, eyes widening and shrieking in shock as he identified it as one of Hibari's tonfas.

Kusakabe chuckled nervously, "Whoa...that was a close call."

"Are you kidding me? I almost died!" Tsuna wailed, clutching at where Hibari's tonfa had grazed his throat. Kusakabe swallowed dryly, also rubbing his throat as he imagined the tonfa cutting across his own throat. He shuddered as he imagined the sensation of it tearing through skin and tissue.

"Ugh...Here, I'll bring it back to him," Kusakabe offered, shaking his head of the thoughts, hand extended. Tsuna paused, sparing the older male a worried glance before yanking the tonfa out from the wall, grunting with slight effort as it had been embedded in there somewhat deeply. Then just stared at the tonfa in wonder, awed once again at Hibari's precision and raw strength before relinquishing the item to the older teen. Kusakabe smiled in thanks before turning and following after Hibari into the kitchen.

Tsuna sighed and then sniffed the air. His stomach rumbled greedily as it registered the smell. Food. The brunette moaned in anticipation and began following the smell, drooling just at the thought of food. BHe stopped and then quickly backed out, peering around the door-frame to see Hibari and Kusakabe talking lowly to one another. The brunette strained his ears to hear what they were saying, but they were too far away and he didn't want to interrupt them if they were talking about something important. But he didn't have to worry about that when Hibird came flying around the corner and then began flapping around in circles around the brunette's head. It was a repeat of earlier events, only this time Hibird was more than determined to get Tsuna into the kitchen as the brunette figured out as the little fluff-ball began pecking furiously at whatever part of the brunette he could get to.

"Ow ow ow! Stop, Hibird! Stop!" Tsuna shrieked and tried ducking away but Hibird only followed after him stubbornly. Shouting out of frustration, Tsuna burst into the kitchen blindly, still distracted by Hibird's dive-bombs. He was vaguely aware that he had gotten Hibari and Kusakabe's attention due to his little episode, but he didn't have time to worry about that when he felt his foot lose traction against the ground and the world tilted as he fell backwards. The impact never came as Tsuna felt an arm wrap around his waist and then pull him into a chest. Opening his eyes, which he hadn't realized he'd closed, Tsuna was greeted by the sight of Hibari's cool silver staring into his. Into him.

"Ah, t-thank-you, Hibari-san," Tsuna murmured gratefully, but the prefect only grunted and motioned for him to take a seat at the table. "Whoa..." Tsuna stared at the dishes on the table, feeling himself drooling just at the sight of it. There was a healthy serving of rice in the side bowl, and the main dish was an omelet with some veggies on the side. And to top it all off there was a bowl of miso soup sitting off to the side, steam curling off the top and sides of the bowl. This had to have taken some time to put together. "You cooked all of this? It all looks so delicious."

"You don't think I can cook?" Hibari raised an eyebrow delicately, but his eyes betrayed the annoyance at his skills being questioned.

"N-No! That's not what I meant." Tsuna quickly waved his hands and shook his head. "That's not what I meant at all! I mean...it must've taken you a long time to put this all together."

"Yeah, so? Just eat before it gets cold," Hibari ordered, already having taken his seat opposite of Tsuna. Realizing that Tsuna wouldn't get anything out of the prefect he just took a seat and blew out an exasperated breath. However, Tsuna watched in interest as Hibird jumped onto the table and hopped over to a little plate that was filled to the brim with various seeds. He let out a little chirp before digging in, the seeds cracking between his beak as he devoured its contents.

"Itadakimasu..." Hibari mumbled before digging his chopsticks into the rice and picking up a generous amount before swallowing it whole.

"Oh, uh...itadakimasu," Tsuna muttered, now remembering to use his manners. His mother would be scolding him harshly if she ever found out he forgot to something as simple as using his manners. He picked up his bowl of rice and was about to dig in when he noticed Kusakabe hadn't taken a seat. As a matter of fact, it looked like he wasn't even going to sit down at all. "Ah. Kusakabe-san, aren't you going to eat?"

"Huh? Oh no, I'm not going to eat anything. I really don't like eating breakfast too often." Kusakabe made a face and waved his hand, dismissing Tsuna's offer.

"Really? Huh, weird..." After living with his mother his whole life, who always made sure to have something cooking at all times, it seemed strange to Tsuna that there would be anyone who actually hated the prospect of eating.

"But..." Kusakabe leaned closer to the table, eyes gleaming hungrily and sniffing deeply as he took in the food. "Actually, I wouldn't mind having just a bite-"

"Touch anything and I'll bite you to death." Hibari threatened calmly as he plucked some more rice from his bowl and ate it casually. Kusakabe immediately retreated, backing up to the wall and crossing his arms in what he hoped would help convince Hibari that he wouldn't touch his carefully prepared meal. Tsuna sighed, closing his eyes and deflating into his seat while his hand picked at his rice with his chopsticks. He had a nagging feeling that today was going to be a very, _very_ long day.

X X X

After the whole breakfast episode, Tsuna had gone back up to his temporary room and dug around in his suitcases looking for a different outfit other than his school uniform. As much as he liked the thing - which wasn't a lot – he just as much wanted to change into something more comfortable. So when he found his favorite sweatshirt he didn't hesitate to throw it on over a random shirt he found and paired them with a pair of his baggy jeans. He bound down the stairs and then froze when he realized that the house was deathly silent. The silence was unnerving. Tiptoeing to the entry, the brunette slid his shoes on and carefully pushed the door open. He stepped outside, noting grimly at how the sky was slowly darkening with an oncoming wave of dark and large clouds. Dreading the prospect of as storm, Tsuna sighed and shut the door behind him. He'd barely taken a few steps down the path when a sudden dark blur swooped in front of him, causing Tsuna to gracefully shriek out of surprise and fall on his bottom.

"Herbivore." The dark blur, Hibari, growled, slowly standing up and towering over the fallen brunette menacingly. "And _where_ do you think you are going?"

"Hibari-san? How did you-" Tsuna pointed between the prefect and the house, trying to figure out where he had jumped down from. Then he noticed that the prefect was still dressed in his pajamas, although his feet were bare. He really must have just jumped out of the house.

Hibari sighed impatiently. "Just tell me where you were going, Herbivore."

"Oh. Well, I was-" Tsuna blinked owlishly, still recovering from his initial surprise, "I was just going to go see Gokudera-kun...at the...hospital..." He finished lamely seeing the prefect's features very noticeably darken upon hearing those words.

"I don't ever remember giving you permission to leave, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Hibari growled.

Tsuna just continued to stare at the prefect in confusion. "What...you...I...eh?"

Instead of answering, Hibari just crossed the space separating them and yanked the brunette up by his arm causing him to hiss in pain. The prefect then spun him around and shoved the brunette towards the house, causing him to stumble. When Tsuna caught himself he turned back with confusion to only see Hibari motioning towards the door with his chin. "Go back inside. Now."

"What!" Anger at what he was hearing was beginning to build up in the bottom of his chest and was threatening to explode. "Why?"

"Because I said so." Hibari answered simply, his face betraying his amazement that Tsuna would even dare to question his motives.

Tsuna glared at the prefect, feeling his cheeks warm with an angry blush. "You're not my mom, Hibari-san! If I want to go see Gokudera-kun then I'm going to go see him. I'm not a child!"

"Okay." Hibari closed his eyes, his features softening for a split second before they opened, silver gazing at Tsuna expectantly."And how do you expect to do that?"

Tsuna blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm going to walk there."

"Walk?" Hibari repeated, smirking. Tsuna bit off an angry retort, growing increasingly frustrated with the prefect's arrogance.

"Yeah!" Tsuna hesitated only a moment before forcing his legs to propel himself forward. He tried not to tremble too much when he passed by Hibari. "S-See? It's an amazing ability people have, isn't it? Now I'll just be on my wa-"

Tsuna didn't even seen Hibari move. There was just a sudden pressure on his arm and then the world went spinning and then Tsuna's jaw connected with the ground. Stunned, Tsuna rolled on the ground for a moment, groaning in pain and nursing his jaw before glaring up at the prefect who was now straightening himself up and glowering down at where Tsuna was laying face-down in the dirt. Tsuna grit his teeth and pushed himself up, ignoring the fact that his legs felt like they were about to give out and he was seeing spots in the corner of his vision. Hibari didn't react. He only watched and waited, his head slightly cocked to the side.

"What did you do that for, Hibari-san?" Tsuna asked, slightly swaying on his feet.

"You were testing my patience, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari narrowed his eyes. "And if you were expecting to get away with it, then you are sadly mistaken."

"You're not making any sense, Hibari-san!" Tsuna complained, suddenly feeling his pent-up frustration burst out. "And I don't see how my going to go see Gokudera-kun really affects you in any way."

"Is that what you really think?" Hibari sneered and then with a snap of the wrist chucked a small plastic container at the brunette's head. Tsuna fumbled for a bit and gazed down at his hands, eyes widening in realization of what it was. His dying will pills.

He looked back up at Hibari, confusion evident on his features, "What? Why did you have these?"

"Doesn't matter. Just take one."

"Why?" Tsuna questioned. He felt like lately he had been asking more questions than he was receiving answers. However, Tsuna received a surprise as Hibari suddenly lunged at him, tonfa drawn back as he aimed for the brunette's head.

"What are you doing?" Tsuna screeched, and then yelped when Hibari swiped at him once more. The edge of his tonfa barely grazing his nose as Tsuna dodged. Hibari struck out once more, and once again Tsuna dodged, barely dodging. They continued this pattern of striking and dodging until Hibari had managed to back Tsuna up against a tree. Gasping when he realized that he had been trapped, Tsuna stared in horror as Hibari's smirk became more sinister and he lunged at the brunette one last time. Tsuna raised an arm, taking the full brunt of the hit with it. Unfortunately, Hibari's blow packed raw power and Tsuna's arm gave away, allowing the tonfa to crash into his face. Tsuna grunted in pain and fell to his hands and knees, spitting blood onto the grass. Hibari pulled his tonfa close to his chest, narrowed eyes watching the brunette.

"Pathetic. Show me more. Show me your true power, Sawada Tsunayoshi!" Hibari declared greedily, rushing the brunette once more. Tsuna barely managed to roll out of the way as Hibari's tonfa impaled itself into the ground where Tsuna's head had been only moments before. Hibari immediately followed, but Tsuna spun around and brought his legs up. When Hibari was close enough Tsuna kicked out blindly. Caught unaware, the sudden attack managed to connect with the prefect's chest and send him sprawling backwards. It hadn't been enough to send Hibari to the ground, but it was enough for Tsuna. The brunette took advantage of Hibari's momentary lapse and jumped to his feet. Then he rushed forward, and with a cry barreled into Hibari's chest sending him flying onto the ground. Panting, Tsuna quickly backed away, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Hibari. Blood trailed down his chin and he trembled as he wiped it away with the back of his hand before staring at his hand in alarm. Hibari sat up his silver eyes landing on the brunette. Tsuna instantly groaned, waves of disappointment crashing through him as he realized his attack hadn't been enough to take out the prefect. Hibari shook his head and let out an annoyed grunt. "You...how do you do it?"

"W-What?" Tsuna flinched as Hibari stared at him, his silver eyes narrowed in confusion.

"How do you do it? One second your the most pathetic herbivore in the world, and the next you can become the most exciting carnivore I've ever come across." Tsuna just returned the confused look, not sure how to reply to what Hibari had said. Hibari rose to his feet and reestablished his grip on his tonfas, his gaze never once leaving Tsuna's. He raised them, an excited smirk appearing on his face. "That's why I'll find the reason, even if I have to pound it out of your lifeless body."

And with that declaration, Hibari dashed forward, his tonfa aimed for the brunette's head. Tsuna grit his teeth and growled, but made no move to dodge the prefect's incoming attack, his gaze directed at the ground. Then his head snapped up, a bright, orange flame bursting to life on his forehead. Shouting, "Enough!"

Hibari skid to a halt and raised an arm defensively, the sudden rush of power threatening to catch him off guard. He felt a smirk worm its way on his face as Tsuna glared at him, his orange gaze remaining on the prefect, calm and calculating. His armored hands igniting with dying will flames as they were raised, ready for the fight. Hibari raised his tonfas, mimicking Tsuna's pose. His heart was pounding, threatening to burst through his chest. Excitement coursed through him, his desire and blood-lust for a fight urging him to continue, impatient to strike at this being who so often confused the prefect.

"I've had enough!" Tsuna screamed as he shot forward, using his flames to propel himself. His gauntlet clashed harshly against Hibari's tonfa as the two collided, neither giving way. Tsuna grunted, putting more power into his fist when the force of the blow suddenly sent both sides sliding back. Tsuna shook off the effects of the blow and glared at the prefect. "I don't know what you're trying to prove, Hibari-san!"

"Oh, it's not what I'm trying to prove, Herbivore," Hibari replied. Tsuna lowered his gauntlets and stared at the prefect in confusion.

"What?" But Tsuna's hesitation allowed Hibari the perfect chance to attack, which he took clear advantage of. Tsuna gasped and tried raising his arm up to block, but it was too late. The last thing he saw was Hibari's tonfa before there was a severe and sharp pain on the side of his face. And then, nothing.

X X X

Hibari swung on his jacket and reached for his neck, tightening his tie and straightening it out. "Kusakabe."

"Yes, Kyo-san?" Kusakabe looked up from where he was sitting on the couch at his boss. Hibari had taken the opportunity to change into his usual attire, his shirt and pants pressed neatly. Hibari then removed his jacket from the hanger and threw it over his shoulders. Hibari turned his head slightly and faced his second in command, silver eyes narrowing.

"Make sure to keep an eye on the herbivore. I have a feeling he'll try something once he wakes up."

"Sure thing, Kyo-san. You don't have to worry about a thing, I'll keep an eye on him." Kusakabe stood up and bowed. Satisfied with that Hibari turned and walked towards the front of the house. Eventually he disappeared in the entryway and the open and closing of the door was the only signal that the prefect had left the house. Kusakabe sighed and then slowly made his way upstairs to where Tsuna was currently passed out in the guest room. Or his room, whichever way you wanted to look at it. He slowly creaked open the door and peaked through the little crack it left. The brunette was still sprawled across the covers, his breathing deep as he slumbered.

Satisfied that he didn't have to worry about the younger male quite yet, Kusakabe closed the door making sure to be as quiet as he could be. Then he went back downstairs and sat on the couch. Yawning, Kusakabe lay down on the couch, using one of the pillows to prop his head up at a comfortable angle. He closed his eyes and took in one more deep breath before everything seemed to slow down.

Suddenly, there was a very loud thump from above, startling the Disciplinary Committee second in command out of his nap. He sat up on the couch, groggy, until the noise came once more. His gaze traveled up towards the ceiling. Kusakabe recalled that the noise was coming in the general area of the guest room where Tsuna had been sleeping. Frowning, Kusakabe twisted on the couch and stood up, his gaze never leaving the source of the noise until he reached the foot of the stairs.

"Sawada-san?" Kusakabe called out then paused, waiting to hear Tsuna's answer, but when it didn't come he frowned and began climbing up, taking the steps one at a time. He called out once more when he was half-way up, "Sawada-san?"

Nothing.

Groaning inwardly, Kusakabe quickly passed all of the other rooms until he reached the guest room. However, even before opening the door he already knew that Tsuna wouldn't be in there. And alas, once the door was fully open there was no sign of the brunette anywhere at all. Kusakabe sighed and pinched the bridge of nose, suddenly feeling the intense desire of just screaming out in frustration right then and there. How was he going to explain this to Hibari?

X X X

After getting Gokudera's room number from the receptionist, who had been shocked at Tsuna's appearance and tried to get him treatment, Tsuna eventually found his way to the correct place. He rested his hand on the handle and took a deep breath, readying himself for what he hoped wouldn't be too much of an emotional battle with his storm guardian. Then he pulled on the handle and slid the door open only to grunt when something crashed into him.

"Tsuna-san! Haru's so glad to see you, desu!" A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, slightly blocking off his air supply. But then Haru pulled away and gasped when she took in his face. "What happened to you, Tsuna-san? Your face looks like it was hit, then chewed and spit out! It's horrible!"

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it, Haru. It's a long story, and it's not that important." Tsuna pried her off and pushed her away to arms length. "Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Kyoko, Chrome, Ryohei, Yamamoto and I all thought we'd come visit Gokudera since we don't have school today. Bianchi's supposed to come by later. Hahi! We were going to invite you too, Tsuna-san, but we couldn't find out where Hibari-san's house was..." Haru's bottom lip trembled and she stared down at the floor.

"It's all right, Haru," Tsuna comforted as he led her into the room. "Um...Who else did you say was here?"

"EXTREME greetings, Sawada!"

Tsuna cringed as Ryohei crashed into him, a playful punch landing on his shoulder. But it was a little too hard for Tsuna's liking and he rubbed at the sore spot before grinning at his offender. "Onii-san! How are you doing? I haven't seen you much lately."

"Yeah. I'm fine, Sawada, but..." Ryohei cast an apprehensive look towards Kyoko who was currently preoccuppied with laughing at a joke Haru had made before turning back to the brunette and whispering, "I heard from Yamamoto what happened...are _you_ okay? You look horrible, and some of this looks fresh."

Tsuna blinked and brought a hand up to his face, hoping to cover some of his bruises. "I'm fine, Onii-san. Really!" He added at Ryohei's dubious look. "All that happened was that I got banged and bruised up. Hibari and I got into a fight, but it's not important. Anyways, I would have been toast if he hadn't come and helped us out when he had."

"So he did this to you?" Ryohei asked lowly, and scowled as he took in Tsuna's swollen face. Tsuna just pressed his lips together and looked away, not really sure what to say. Ryohei let out an angry huff and ran a hand over his head. "Jeez...and here I thought he was finally learning to get along with everyone."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Nothing...it's just that when I think I finally have that guy figured out he goes and does something that completely disproves what I'd been thinking. He's an enigma that guy is..." Tsuna hummed in agreement, remembering that he had the exact same thoughts when Hibari had saved him.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto's cry snapped the brunette out of his thoughts and he looked over to see the baseball player waving him over to where Gokudera was laying on his bed. However, Tsuna raised a brow in surprise as Gokudera had the sheets pulled over himself and Tsuna could only make out the faint outline of his friend's body.

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna frowned. "Let me see your face."

"No, Tenth!" Gokudera pulled the sheets tighter over himself. Even if it was the Tenth asking, the bomber couldn't build up the courage to move the sheets and face his boss. "I'm not worthy enough to be in your presence much less seen by you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna snapped and moved closer to the bedside tugging on the sheets in the vain attempt to pull them away. He swallowed the lump in his throat and instead placed a hand on Gokudera's shoulder, hoping to convey his feelings through that simple action. "If anyone's not worthy enough it's me. I don't like it when you always take the blame for my mistakes, Gokudera. I don't know why you'd think I hate you. I don't. I like you."

Gokudera felt his heart skip a beat as he slightly lowered the sheet, green eyes peeking over as he glanced up at his boss with emotions of surprise and hope swirling behind them. "Really, Tenth?"

"Yes!" Tsuna smiled, glad that he had gotten Gokudera to come out of his makeshift cocoon. "You're my best friend! It doesn't matter what happens, I'll never hate you. It's what friends do. We handle whatever life throws at us _together!_ So don't beat yourself up over this. Please!_"_

Gokudera felt his heart ache painfully he took in those words, his sheets falling out of his hands. Sure, the bomber hadn't really been expecting anything more. Heck, he'd been mentally prepaing himself for who knows how long in case this moment ever happened. He'd toughened up his heart, hoping that the walls he'd put up would be strong enough to withstand the truth when it was finally delivered, but...it still hurt to hear it in person.

"Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna frowned worriedly at the silver-haired boy's silence.

Gokudera realized that he had been scowling at his lap and quickly covered it up by forcing a wide smile on his face. "You're my best friend too, Tenth."

Tsuna seemed satisfied with the answer, because he pulled away with a grin on his face. "I'm glad."

"Hey!" Yamamoto jumped to Tsuna's side and threw an arm around his shoulder, slightly teetering him around on his feet. "I'm your best friend too, aren't I?"

Before Tsuna could answer Ryohei jumped on him from the other side, grinding his fist into the top of his head. "I'm EXTEMELY your best friend too, aren't I!"

"Hey! Don't forget us!" Haru cried as she and Kyoko jumped towards them, adding to the dog-pile as well, squealing with laughter as their added weight caused everyone to fall onto the ground. Tsuna didn't even feel himself falling to the ground. He was too busy laughing with the others who were all squirming against one another.

"Hey! You're all crushing the Tenth! Get off of him!" Gokudera growled as he leaned over the side of his bed. Everyone obeyed as they pulled apart. "Tenth! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine-" a giggle burst out of his mouth as he watched Ryohei fall to the ground clumsily after he pulled away, causing the others to laugh as well "-Gokudera-kun. I'm fine"

"See? This is how things should always be," Yamamoto commented from where he was laying on the ground. "Just having fun with everyone without a care in the world. It wouldn't be so bad if things were like this everyday. I'd really like that."

Tsuna took in his words before closing his eyes and letting a smile come out on his face. For the life of him, Tsuna couldn't help but wholeheartedly agree with what Yamamoto was saying. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the ground. The brunette loved the moments like this, where everyone could just relax with smiles on their faces and not have to worry about anything else. "Yeah."

X X X

"Bye, everyone!" Tsuna waved to his friends who walked down the pavement towards their homes and turned to face Yamamoto who had stayed behind to walk Tsuna back to Hibari's house. He was still acting a little paranoid, and he wanted to know where Hibari's house was so this way he could kill two birds with one stone. Tsuna relented, knowing Yamamoto meant well, but he still couldn't help but feel a little smothered under all of this protection. "Ready?"

"Yup!" Yamamoto grinned widely, his hands crossing behind his head in his usual posture. "Lead the way, Tsuna!"

"Herbivore."

Tsuna froze, and Yamamoto just startled in surprise, but both turned to face the source of the voice. Gulping, Tsuna cringed at what he saw. As he had feared, Hibari was standing in the parking lot just a few feet from where Yamamoto and he were standing. And he did not look happy.

Realizing that he had gotten Tsuna's attention Hibari began marching towards the brunette. The look on his face contorted and promised much pain and biting to death. Once he got within earshot he began speaking, his voice laced with anger. "How dare you disobey me, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Did you really think that you could get away with this? I swear once I get my hands on you-"

"Whoa!" Yamamoto flew in between the two and raised his arms, shielding Tsuna from the prefect's wrath. "Wait a second, Hibari! Tsuna hasn't done anything wrong!"

Hibari ignored Yamamoto and glared at Tsuna. He raised a hand and curled his pointer finger, motioning for Tsuna to come to him. "Come _here_, Herbivore. Now." Tsuna bristled at the unspoken threat, but he obeyed and slowly maneuvered around Yamamoto in order to get to the prefect. It was better to get his over with sooner rather than later.

"Wait, Tsuna," Yamamoto pushed the brunette back behind him and cast a wary glance at Hibari. "Hibari, listen to me! Whatever reason Tsuna had for leaving, he's not your property. You can't order him about like he's yours either.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna tugged onto the baseball player's arm. "It's all right! I was going to go back with him anyways."

Hibari's furious gaze landed on the baseball player. "Stay out of this, Yamamoto Takeshi." And in a blur, Hibari lunged at the baseball player, his tonfa gleaming dangerously in the sunlight. Grunting out of surprise, Yamamoto pushed Tsuna back with one arm and used the other to activate his Vongola Gear just in time to parry the attack with his katana. Hibari didn't waste a second though, because he quickly spun and rammed his tonfa into the swordsman's unprotected side. A crack ripped through the air, forcing the air out of Yamamoto's lungs as he collapsed to his knees. Hibari raised his arm, preparing to strike once more at the defenseless teen. He was stopped when an flaming, armored hand deflected the strike and another aimed for the prefect's exposed stomach. Hibari retreated, narrowly dodging the blow. His eyes narrowed, glowering at the brunette, whom was now standing protectively in front of Yamamoto in his Hyper Dying Will mode.

Yamamoto glanced up at his friend in surprise, his face slightly green with the pain of Hibari's strike. "Tsuna?"

"Leave Yamamoto out of this, Hibari-san. He has nothing to do with this. This is between you and me," Tsuna gestured between himself and the prefect before dropping his arms back to his sides.

"Hn. Really, now?" Hibari smirked, but he stayed where he was. The prefect was interested in the sudden turn of events, and something told him to see things through. To see how Tsuna reacted.

"Yes!" Tsuna spared a glance at his felled friend before turning orange eyes back on Hibari. "Earlier you told me to prove myself to you, Hibari-san, in order to come see Gokudera-kun. I'm going to prove myself to you again. Only this time I won't lose."

Hibari sneered derisively. "What makes you think I'll lose? If I remember correctly I had you sprawled out on the ground before."

"Right. Before. But now it's different." Tsuna hesitated. He raised his chin and met the prefect's smoldering gaze. "If I lose...if I lose, Hibari-san, I'll go with you. But you have to promise to leave Yamamoto alone."

"Tsuna, no!" Yamamoto protested and pulled himself to his feet, but winced and placed a hand on his injured side. "You don't need to do this for me!"

"It's not just for you, Yamamoto," Tsuna reasoned. He turned to look at his friend and offered a reassuring smile. "I'm doing this for me, and for Hibari-san too, even though it really doesn't seem like it, does it?"

Hibari raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You're doing this for me?"

Tsuna gazed into Hibari's silver eyes. "You'll understand eventually."

Hibari breathed out of his nose, "Don't you even dare to underestimate me-"

"I'm not! Now listen!" Tsuna snapped, and Hibari shut up. More out of surprise than anything else. "If I lose then I'll go with you, and I'll listen to whatever you tell me to do. But you have to promise to leave Yamamoto out of this."

"Fine. And if _I_ lose?"

"I get to hang out with my friends whenever I want to and you can't say anything about it. That means letting me do whatever I want, whenever I want." Hibari frowned, pondering over Tsuna's proposal. Tsuna didn't even know why he had to barter his freedom with Hibari, but he would have bet his life when it came to his friends.

"Tsuna," Yamamoto tugged onto Tsuna's sleeve frantically in order to get his attention, "Don't do this. Please."

Tsuna offered a reassuring smile once more, "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"Fine." Hibari straightened himself and looked Tsuna squarely in the eyes. If Tsuna hadn't been in Hyper Dying Will mode, he was sure the prefect's look would have destroyed any resolve he'd managed to bring together. "I agree to those terms."

* * *

Ohmigosh, I was worried that this chapter wouldn't be long enough but it ended up as one of the longest things I've ever written. I don't know how I did it...And I ended with a cliff-hanger. Have to keep you guys interested somehow, right?

Whelp, as always I'd love to know what you guys think of my chapters so please review! Now that I'm on break I'll have more time to work so help motivate me to keep going!


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